


Home Is Where The Heart(h) Is

by CompletelyAnonymous



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:26:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 56,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8700970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompletelyAnonymous/pseuds/CompletelyAnonymous
Summary: Strange events shake the world of the Greek gods that send Percy Jackson on a journey where his friends have turned against him, in a race to save his world from the rising of the Giants. He finds himself locked in an ultimate battle of love, betrayal and cunning, one that he may not emerge alive from. Eros claims love conquers all. It does, and it will, but whose side will take?





	1. The Thrones Of Dark And Fire

Chapter 1: The Thrones Of Dark And Fire

The twelve Olympian Gods sat on their desecrated thrones, eyeing the young demigod Percy Jackson with shocked expressions. The air was dangerously tensed, whether it was from tension or the static Zeus was giving off.

The war had just ended. The gods were still in full battle armour, power radiating in the throne room. The gods had given Percy Jackson a choice to become a god, serving under his father.

His reply was one that they had never heard from any hero in their immortal lives.

"No?" Zeus growled. "You would decline our generous offer?"

"Lord Zeus, I mean no disrespect, but I have other requests I would like to put forth. Although, I need the Council to swear on the River Styx."

"What? You do not trust us?" Ares demanded.

"Someone once told me," Percy said, looking meaningfully at Hades, who stood in the shadows of the pillars, away from the brazier that blazed brightly in the centre of the throne room, "You should always get a binding oath."

The Lord of the dead grinned. "Guilty as charged."

"Very well," Zeus muttered, "In the name of the Olympian Council, I swear on the River Styx to grant your reasonable request, as long as it is within our power."

Thunder rumbled in the distance. The oath was made.

"First, I want the gods to claim their children as soon as they become of age."

The gods shifted uncomfortably.

"What do you mean, Perseus?" Poseidon asked.

"Kronos would not have rose to power if not for the undetermined demigods. They felt unloved and abandoned. That was why they joined the wrong sides. They had a good reason, though."

Zeus glared at Percy. "You dare—"

"No more demigods dying before they reach camp." He cut in quickly. "Second, the minor gods should be given a cabin at camp, along with Hades."

"You call me a minor god?" Hades raised an eyebrow, tone threatening.

"No, my Lord, but your children should also be given a place at camp and the minor gods should be recognised."

"Thirdly, no more oath of the big three. That didn't work out in the first place."

He took a deep breath. "Lastly, I want Lord Hades and Lady Hestia to have thrones on Olympus. It's only right. After all, they were the oldest brother and sister of the children of Kronos."

At this, Hades' anger dissipated, replaced with surprise. Hestia, watching the scene unfold from the hearth, stared at Percy with surprise, as did the other Olympians. The demigods in the room started whispering among themselves. Annabeth Chase looked at Percy with what seemed like pride and joy.

Zeus snorted. "Is that all?"

"Percy, you ask much. You presume much." Poseidon said.

"That is my request." Percy knelt at the foot of Zeus' throne.

After a moment of silent telepathy among the immortals, Zeus said, "Very well, Percy Jackson. Your request has been accepted. Rise, demigod."

Percy did, albeit he was still bowing respectfully.

Zeus waved his hand and two new thrones appeared at the end of the U. One was decorated with skulls and black fire that burned eternally. It was made from obsidian, with gems embedded into it. However, it was not uncomfortable, thanks to the black leather which was where Hades sat on it.

Hestia's throne was simple, not at all flashy, much like her personality. It was made out of gold which was enchanted to not give off any sparkle. Tongues of fire licked the armrests, but it didn't seem to bother Hestia as she laid her arms on there. As as did so, her appearance changed, now wearing a brown cloak much like her last one, yet this was now outlined with gold. A diadem rested upon her forehead with only a ruby fixated on the tiara.

"Not exactly my style," Hestia murmured, although her face was one of happiness.

"Now, let the festivities begin!" Zeus declared.

* * *

Hestia glided through the dancing couples of mortals and immortals alike, some waltzing to a slow tune while others movements were quick and upbeat – all of this possible with the Nine Muses, allowing each individual to listen to his or her desired songs. Of course, this led to some amusing scenes.

As for Hestia, she had picked some Beethoven, a wonderful son of Athena. She, however, was not dancing, instead searching for one particular demigod.

Finally, she spotted him resting near the balcony. His skin was slick with sweat and his black hair was messy, either from his original hairstyle or by his perspiration. His eyes were closed, simply enjoying the breeze.

"Too much dancing?" Hestia asked Percy Jackson.

He opened his eyes and saw the goddess in front of him. He bowed deeply. "Lady Hestia."

Hestia waved her hand in annoyance. "Please, you don't have to call me that, and bowing isn't needed either."

He nodded, although she doubted he would listen. The demigod was one of the most respectful, yet at the same time, disrespectful, demigod she had ever met.

The two gazed at the view of New York from above. She heard the wailing of sirens and wondered what explanation the mortals would come up with following the mass slumber of the mortals in the war.

She couldn't help but grin at that. She always amused herself by looking in the hearth, which allowed her to view events happening around the globe. Which reminded her, she no longer needed to be by the hearth, thanks to the demigod beside her.

"What brings you here?" Percy asked.

"I would like to thank you, Perseus, for allowing me to have a throne."

He shrugged. "It was only right, seeing as you and Lord Hades were the oldest sister and brother respectively."

The two were quiet before Percy started another conversation.

"Did you want a throne in the first place?" He asked. "Some myths said you originally had a throne, but you forfeited it in the favour of Dionysus, while others stated you never wanted one."

Hestia smiled. "The latter is true. I never wanted one. Ah, crowds and attention…I don't like them that much."

"Is it because of that satyr, the one that…um…" Percy's voice trailed off, thinking of how to phrase his following words.

She shuddered. "Priapus, yes, he did try to do that." She held her hand up to silence the predicted apology that Percy was about to open his mouth to say. "It's fine, that happened a long time ago."

Percy felt his cheeks burn that he had to make Hestia talk about something that embarrassing. They fell into a silence until it was interrupted by Annabeth who asked Percy to dance. Percy looked at Hestia for permission to leave, to which she nodded. Percy bowed once more and left. She could tell he was slightly relieved to be away from her due to their conversation. She felt a bit disappointed that she couldn't tell him that he shouldn't feel that way, though she shook it off.

_Percy Jackson, how interesting you are…_

Hestia decided to return to her palace, having enough of the party. Little did she know that was the last time she would be in her palace for a long, long time.


	2. Chaos On Olympus

Chapter 2: Chaos On Olympus

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GONE?" Zeus thundered (sorry).

"I mean, she's disappeared. She's not in her palace. It looked like a tornado had tore through it." Hermes said, stepping back from Zeus slightly in fear and disappeared, reappearing at his throne.

It was the next day, after the Titan War had ended, and chaos ensued on Olympus. Hestia had disappeared.

"She was captured?" Athena said.

He shrugged. "When I knocked on her door, there was no answer. The door was locked with something different from our usual magic, so I could access it. The place was completely destroyed."

"This is a serious matter," Artemis muttered. Everyone knew why, even if they didn't want to say it. Hestia was one of the goddesses that kept the peace within the Olympian family. If an argument were to break out, it could become much worst than when Hestia was around to act as mediator.

"Let us ask the guard if he allowed anyone in last night," Hades suggested. With that, Hermes vanished once again, this time reappearing with the guard. The guard immediately bowed. "Lord Zeus."

Zeus waved his hand. "Rise, Thaddeus. We have a question for you."

Thaddeus raised his eyebrows. "Yes, my Lord?"

"Did you let anyone in Olympus last night?"

"Hmm, last night…" Thaddeus snapped his fingers and a small logbook appeared in his other hand. He flipped to a page and ran his finger down. "No, my Lord. No one visited Olympus last night. Is something wrong?"

Athena took this up. "Thaddeus, if we do tell you, swear on the River Styx to not tell anyone."

"I swear on the River Styx that whatever information is relayed to me from the Olympians will be kept a secret." He replied. Thunder boomed.

Poseidon sighed. "Hestia has gone missing."

Thaddeus' eyes widened.

"You must understand why we cannot tell anyone. It would cause a pandemonium among the mortals." Artemis spoke up, eyeing Thaddeus threateningly.

"I do, Lady Artemis." Thaddeus said respectfully.

"Thaddeus," Hades suddenly spoke up. The guard turned to him, only realising now that the Lord of the dead had been silent all this while. "Could you check if anyone had used the card to enter the elevator?"

Thaddeus frowned. Again, he snapped his fingers, and three cards appeared. He touched the base of them, and he gasped.

At the same time, Dionysus appeared in the throne room, and without greeting anyone, he spoke directly at Zeus, "Father, a new demigod has appeared, unclaimed…and the children from the Ares cabin have disappeared."

The air suddenly tensed.

"Wait," Ares said, his tone dangerous, "my children?"

Dionysus nodded.

Seeing as many things were about to happen at once, Aphrodite leapt from her seat and screamed, "WAIT!"

Immediately, the fire in the God of war's eyes dissipated and Thaddeus collected the cards he had dropped on the floor in shock.

Athena's eyes narrowed. "First, Dionysus, how did the demigod appear?"

"One of the guards found the girl calmly walking up Half-blood hill, and at the same time, a scream came from the Ares cabin. They just…vanished." Dionysus said, mystified.

The other gods noticed Ares was gripping the armrests of his throne tightly, his mouth contorted into a expression of barely controlled anger.

"Thank you, Dionysus," Athena nodded her head towards the god of wine, who inclined his head in reply and flashed himself to his throne. "Now, Thaddeus, what happened?"

The demigod's eyes were the size of plates, his skin pale white, almost like a ghost. His hands trembled and his mouth moved ever so slightly, yet no words were uttered.

"It…can't be…" He managed to say. The gods stared at him with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

"Thaddeus," Apollo said gently, which was most unlike of him, "Who entered Olympus?"

The demigod turned to face Apollo. "The Giants have returned," he breathed, his voice no louder than a whisper, "Clytius entered Olympus,"

* * *

Percy Jackson eyed the newcomer warily as she sat on an infirmary bed quietly, not moving. She didn't seem at all fazed about the uproar that was the disappearance of the Ares campers, nor did she seem affected by the amount of people whispering among each other about the unclaimed demigod.

He knew she was a demigod and not just a mortal that could see through the Mist. She had drank nectar and eaten ambrosia without any self immolation occurring.

Dionysus had just went to Olympus to notify the gods, and he ordered Percy to watch her until he returned. The most worrying thing was, he had called Percy by his name. The situation must have been serious.

He did have one question. Why was she unclaimed, even after he made the gods swear to claim all their children, unless this demigod was not even born from the gods? No, it seemed unlikely.

Apart from that, he was still worried about the strange disappearance of the Ares campers. Even though he never shared any particular closeness with them, they still fought with him during the Titan War.

_What in the name of the gods was going on?_

"You know," the girl said all of a sudden, in a nonchalant tone,, "if you want to ask me any questions, go ahead."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Alright, what's your name?"

"Aelia."

"Where do you come from?"

"Here, New York."

"Do you know who's your godly parent?"

She shook her head. Percy had a sudden urge to throttle the Olympians. Apparently, they still did not abide by his request. Although, Aelia did not seem bothered that she did not know her godly parent.

"How did you know that this camp existed? You weren't brought here by a satyr."

She shrugged. "I just had a feeling that something was waiting for me here, so I went."

Percy's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Okay then. Last question, how did you know you were a demigod?"

"Same answer as before. I just felt it."

"You know, for someone who openly offered to be asked questions, you don't know a lot." He observed.

Aelia smiled. "I know a lot. You're just asking the wrong questions. And if you're wondering if I'm a monster, I'm not. I swear on the River Styx."

_She knows about the River Styx…_

Percy's expression softened slightly. He still was extremely curious about Aelia and her origins.

Just then, the door opened, and Dionysus stepped in. He took a measured look at Aelia, tilted his head slightly in greeting, and ordered Percy to go outside. Percy decided to just follow his commands.

He thought Dionysus was going to interrogate Aelia, but to his surprise, he exited the infirmary along with him.

"So?" Percy asked.

Dionysus shot him a glare, before sighing. "Perseus, something has happened that may be of relation to this new girl, and the disappearance of the Ares campers, but you must swear that you will tell no one. Not even Annabeth." he added when he saw Percy open his mouth.

"What could be so serious I can't even tell her? I tell her everything."

"You cannot tell anyone about this. Swear it on the River Styx." Dionysus' tone spoke of wanting no protests.

Percy grumbled inwardly, but in the end, he relented.

"Fine. I swear on the River Styx." Thunder rumbled. Percy felt a lead weight drop on his heart. He couldn't even tell Annabeth about this.

"Good. Now, the Giants have been reborn, and they are waging war on Olympus."

Percy was never good at Greek myths, but he recalled the Giants, the children of Gaia and Tartarus. It took a demigod and a god to kill each one. The war with them was nothing compared to the Titan war.

He half hoped Dionysus was joking, but the god of wine's eyes flashed with something he never thought he would see: seriousness.

"Oh."

"That is why you cannot tell the rest. It would cause chaos." Dionysus rubbed his temples, like speaking had already tired him. "Now, the next thing I wanted to tell you."

"Hestia is missing, and before you say anything." He held up his hand to stop Percy's words. "We may have a lead on where she is."

"Where?" Percy asked worriedly. He regarded Hestia as the kindest god, and now Olympian. That had also been one of his reasons why he argued for Hestia to have a throne. He felt an unusual sense of care for the goddess.

Dionysus jerked his head towards the infirmary. "The girl. Let's go ask her, shall we?"

* * *

After Thaddeus had been sent away, the throne room was completely silent, each god contemplating the threat they faced, the capturing of Hestia and the disappearance of Ares' children, most likely attributed to the Giants as well.

"What will we do?" Athena asked after the silence had lasted for a few minutes.

Zeus sighed. "We fight them. What else can we do?"

"I meant, what do we tell the mortals?"

"We have to tell them, sooner or later," Artemis said.

"When the time is right," Hephaestus added. The other gods agreed.

Suddenly, acrid smoke suffocated the air. blinding the Olympians. They couldn't open their mouths unless they wanted to choke. A scream shattered the air which was immediately silenced.

When the smoke cleared, the Olympians grabbed their weapons in unison and scanned the area frantically for enemies. No one was around.

"Father," Apollo said urgently, "Aphrodite is gone."

Ichor drained from the Olympians' faces. Were the Giants so powerful that they could infiltrate Olympus undetected and capture a goddess?

Nowhere was safe.


	3. Two Sides

Chapter 3: Two Sides

Percy couldn't sleep.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been able to snore off soundly listening to the waves splashing next to the cabin, but with all that had happened, he just could not sleep. He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying today's events over and over in his head.

* * *

" _Your name is Aelia, correct?" Dionysus asked._

_Aelia nodded._

" _Well then, Aelia, I am Dionysus, the-"_

" _The god of wine, I know." Aelia abruptly interrupted. "Let's skip the formalities, shall we?"_

_Dionysus' face glowed red with anger at the disrespectful girl, while Percy bit his tongue to stifle his laughter. Aelia reminded Percy of himself._

" _Could you tell me everything? From your birth to your childhood to how you got here?" Dionysus said stiffly._

_Aelia looked at Dionysus directly in the eye, before looking at Percy, making Percy feel slightly uncomfortable, feeling those two sapphire irises scan him. Aelia bothered him more than Annabeth when he first met her. She seemed more intimidating and slightly scary, or maybe that was just from their current situation. Either way, Percy didn't feel like meeting her gaze._

" _I was born in New York. My parents…I never knew them. They left me at an orphanage. I ran away when I was around fourteen. I lived on the streets for about a year, and then I came here."_

_Dionysus' expression was skeptical. He knew the girl could have been filled with memories from the Mist, assuming if the girl was Hestia._

" _Interesting…" Dionysus muttered. He probed the girl's mind, a little ability all immortals could perform and found that it was extremely vulnerable. It was most certainly not a goddess' mind, and so far he had not heard of changing an immortal's mind with a mortal's. In other words, the girl was just another demigod. The memories were all there, and she was telling the truth. Whether those memories were created by the Mist was yet to be seen, but if they were the Mist, it would mean the girl was indeed Hestia, but she wasn't…_

_The god of wine growled inwardly with frustration. This was leading him nowhere._

_He stood up. "Thank you, Aelia. For now, Percy will show you around."_

" _What? Why me?" Percy said, slightly startled._

_Dionysus didn't reply, instead disappearing in a flash of light. Percy sighed and looked back at Aelia, who was staring back at him with an exasperated look._

" _If you don't want to show me around, I'm fine." She said._

" _No…I'd rather not get transformed into a dolphin." Percy sighed again. "Come on."_

* * *

_Percy frowned at Aelia as she smiled at all the campers with an almost flirtatious side, something she was not demonstrating in the infirmary. Her smile left some of the campers whispering that Aelia may be a daughter of Aphrodite._

_He watched her flirt shamelessly with some of the Hermes and Apollo boys, including the twins Connor and Travis Stoll. They later came and talked to Percy, when Aelia went to the restroom._

" _Dude, can I show her around?" Travis practically begged him._

" _Shove off!" Connor pushed him aside and grinned. "I'll take over your responsibility, Perce."_

_Percy shook his head, which was met with glares from the two of them. They started complaining, until Percy said, "I don't want to be turned into a bottle of wine, thank you very much. He told me to show her, not the two of you. Plus, I don't see what all the fuss is about. She wasn't like this…" Percy's voice trailed off."_

_On a normal basis, Percy would be glad to disobey Dionysus yet again. He had better things to do, but the news Dionysus broke to him shook him a lot, and his thoughts were constricted. Aelia also could be Hestia so Percy felt a sense of responsibility to protect the girl, goddess or no._

_The twins stared daggers at him, but this was no ordinary glare of temporary anger. It was a glare with jealousy and anger, something Percy was not used to from the two. They were truly mad at him._

" _I gotta go…" Percy excused himself, his mind clouded with confusion and worry._

_Percy found Aelia waiting for him just outside the toilets, looking expectantly at him. Percy was getting used to that now._

_He was about to continue the tour when he heard a voice call his name behind him. He turned and was met with a pair of familiar grey eyes._

" _Hi, Annabeth." Percy waved at her. Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him._

" _Who is she?" She cocked her head towards Aelia._

" _Oh, Annabeth, this is Aelia. Aelia, Annabeth." Percy said._

" _I see," Annabeth said, "Can I talk to you later?"_

" _Sure, once I'm done with this."_

_Annabeth nodded her head slightly and walked off. Aelia watched her leave._

" _I think you should just talk to her now, I can go around on my own." Aelia said._

_Percy wanted to protest, but at the moment, he felt like hanging out with his girlfriend rather than her. He felt more comfortable in Annabeth's presence. He shrugged. "Alright then, bye." And he started jogging after her._

" _So, how's your day?" Percy asked her when she was within earshot._

" _Fine," she replied shortly. Percy frowned, immediately noticing something was wrong. After all they've been through together, her day was most definitely not fine._

" _Something's bothering you," he stated plainly, "tell me."_

_Annabeth looked at Percy incredulously. He really didn't know what was her problem? How inobservant was he?_

" _Then again," she thought," that was one of his endearing qualities."_

" _Um…am I missing something?" Percy asked slowly._

_She gave a low growl of frustration. "Her! That's what's wrong!"_

" _What's wrong with Aelia? She's alright."_

" _You were giving her a tour around camp! Why you? Why not someone else?"_

_Percy hesitated slightly. To tell Annabeth about the reason why Dionysus picked him would mean he would have to tell her about the oath he made, and he doubted Annabeth would like it if he were to tell her about that._

_He was new in a relationship. They had only been going out for about a week, yet he wasn't fully adjusted to the whole "no secrets" thing._

_Plus, Percy detected something familiar in her eyes, the same feeling the Stoll brothers were exuding. Jealousy?_

_It hit him. Annabeth…was jealous? Percy could have laughed out loud right there and then. But he couldn't suppress a grin at her misunderstanding. He just had to tell her he still loved her and she was just being silly._

_Annabeth took it wrongly._

" _Oh, you find this funny?" she almost shouted. "Fine! I don't need to know!" and she stalked off, leaving a very stunned and mystified Percy behind._

" _What in the world is going on? She isn't usually like this…" Percy thought._

_He would have to let her cool off and visit her later to patch things up. He decided to return to his cabin and rest. It had been a long day._

_As he returned to his cabin, he saw Aelia again, and was surprised to see a crowd of male campers gathering around her and a bunch of Aphrodite campers glaring at her with barely controlled spite._

_The personality she displayed to the public was puzzling Percy. To the crowd, she was flirtatious and smiling all the time. At Percy, she was quiet and calm._

_He shook his head and turned away, shutting the door behind him and crashing on his bed, but he couldn't sleep._

* * *

"As most of you may already know," Chiron said, "We have a new camper joining us, parentage unknown, even after the…promise was made. This is Aelia Hawthorn. Hermes cabin, as usual pre Titan war, you have taken in all undetermined campers. As such, will you accept Aelia into your cabin?"

Percy looked at the Hermes cabin councilors, the Stoll brothers, who looked as though they had been in the middle of a bank with unlocked safes. He scanned the crowd. Everyone seemed to just forget about the disappearance of the Ares campers, like they never existed. The guys were fawning over Aelia, while the girls were waist-deep in jealousy.

"Definitely!" Connor grinned. The other campers – especially the males, shot dirty looks at him.

"Once again, can we give a warm round of applause for our new camper!"

Before anyone could clap, a blinding flash of lightning struck the ground, and there stood the Olympian gods. Immediately, everyone knelt, except for Chiron, who inclined his head as a sign of respect.

"Rise, camp half-blood, we have some matters to discuss…" Zeus said, shooting a look at Aelia.

"Lord Zeus, where are Lady Hestia and Lady Aphrodite?" Someone in the crowd shouted, followed by murmurs from the demigods. Zeus' eye twitched.

"That was one of our matters. The first is," Zeus paused, thinking on how to phrase his next words, "Lady Hestia and Lady Aphrodite have been captured."

Chaos ensued. Zeus slammed his master bolt on the ground and everyone quieted.

"We have some leads on where they are and…who captured them?"

"Is it the Titans?" Malcolm, one of the Athena campers asked.

"No, not the Titans," supplied Poseidon. The murmuring continued and Zeus had to slam his master bolt again to silence everyone.

"We believe this girl, Aelia, is one of the two goddesses." Athena declared.

Silence trailed her words for about two seconds before everyone started shouting, "Aphrodite!"

Percy could understand what they were seeing, but not the angle they were seeing it. It was like viewing a rock at different angles. Look at it with the sun reflecting off its surface, and it has a glowing outer rim, but look at it from darkness, and it looks plain.

Aelia was indeed very pretty, Percy had to admit. She had short blonde hair she kept neatly cut. Her skin was fair with almost no tan. Her eyes were sapphire blue. Even the Olympians had a hard time focusing. He caught Apollo and Ares sneaking looks at Aelia. Percy felt like throwing up.

_Could Aelia really be Aphrodite?_

"SILENCE!" Hades roared, black flames emitting from the ground around him.

Zeus cleared his throat. "Thank you, brother. Now, we will now scan the girl whether she is Hestia or Aphrodite, and then proceed based on what we have found."

"Aelia Hawthorn," Hera spoke formally, "step forward."

Aelia complied, standing in the centre of the Olympians.

The gods raised their hands and chanted in Ancient Greek, so fast that Percy couldn't keep up with the translation.

The gods' hands shot out tendrils of energy that connected with the other tendrils, forming a circle. They spoke the final word, and the circle flew into Aelia's temple. She gave a short gasp and crumpled but was luckily caught by Dionysus.

A symbol formed around Aelia's head, similar to the act of claiming. A symbol of a dove.

The crowd was not surprised, but there was still a loud cheer. The symbol still hung in the air as Aelia was led away by a bunch of campers.

"Very well, she has been determined to be Aphrodite incarnate. However, her spirit is much like those of a demigod. We sense no immortality within her, and along with it, no power, hence she will be kept here in the confines of the camp. As for Lady Hestia, we will find her soon enough. And the same for the Ares campers. That is all." Apollo said, before the Olympians disappeared in another burst of light.

"Well, as Aelia Hawthorn is Lady Aphrodite, treat her well, or she will transform you into a patch of lettuce when her powers return." Chiron joked, although his eyes flashed with worry at the situation. "Now, let the campfire commence!"

* * *

It was around two in the morning, but Percy crept along the shadows of the cabins, not caring about the harpies. A feeling had been gnawing at him since he went back to his cabin, a strange feeling that urged him to go to the campfire. He did, and when he saw what was there, he stood rooted to the ground.

First, Aelia was there, sitting beside the cinders, a hood to cover her head, and the symbol still hung in the air, except it was not a dove. It was a flame.

"You see it, don't you?" Aelia said softly as he approached.

"Yeah, why?" Percy said.

Aelia pulled back her hood and turned to face him. Percy jumped back in shock.

She looked different. Instead of blonde hair, she had black hair which flowed down her shoulders freely. Her eyes were the colour of onyx and her expression was soft and kind, which he didn't see earlier.

It could just be Aphrodite changing her appearance. Maybe the gods were wrong and she still possessed some of her old powers, but Percy didn't think so. She looked entirely different, with no trace of the former Aelia.

She also looked like a goddess Percy had met before.

He looked at the campfire, and the flame glowing in the air, and his eyes widened.

"Hestia?"


	4. A Nightly Friendship

Chapter 4: A Nightly Friendship

Aelia, or Hestia, swept her hand over the fire. "This is where I assume my true self, where I am not taken over by Aphrodite. Only at night, by the hearth, is where I can be myself." she fixed her black irises on Percy. "You are the only one who can see me, Perseus."

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Think. What made you different from the rest yesterday?" Hestia said knowingly.

"Um..." Percy did think about it for a moment, before the answer came to him in a fleeting moment. "I didn't fall for Aphrodite's charms? But...how did you know, if Aphrodite takes over? So if that's the case, is Aelia you, or Aphrodite?"

"I know you wouldn't do that, Perseus. You are very...interesting. As for your second question, Aelia is me, Aphrodite simply...ah, likes to intrude."

"Who did this to you?" Percy questioned, feeling slightly angry at whoever did this, even if Hestia looked completely adjusted to her new limited form.

"The Giants, of course. They seek to cause chaos in the camp with Aphrodite. If everything goes according to their plan, a civil war will break out. It will be the Trojan War repeated. With no demigods to help the gods, the giants will be undefeatable, and Olympus will fall."

"Why include you in their plan? I mean, if Aphrodite could cause a war, you don't really need to be in...this." Percy gestured at her.

At this, Hestia frowned. "For that, I'm not sure. Maybe when they captured me, something went wrong, and they had to put me in this form." She looked at her hands for a moment, before continuing, "At any rate, Perseus, you will have to stop all of this from happening."

"Alone?" Percy said, a pang of hurt striking him as he thought about Annabeth. He had yet to make it up to her. "What about the gods?"

She shook her head. "The gods will not help. When they scanned Aelia earlier, they saw no trace of me. They will not believe you. I fear someone is clouding their minds...corrupting their judgement. I don't know what..." she didn't finish the sentence.

"Can you tell them?"

"I cannot. The minute I leave the hearth, this hearth, I will be taken over by Aphrodite."

"You make her sound like she's evil."

Hestia's eyes flashed. "I'm afraid she may be. Her motives are simple. Spread her domain of love: The Giants' love, or desire, to see Olympus fall; the demigods...it is quite self-explanatory. She is almost like Ares – they both would start a war, even if the war would destroy the world. Perhaps that is why they like each other."

Hearing this, Percy's opinion of Aphrodite changed quite a bit. Aphrodite could be helpful, but sometimes downright ruthless.

Percy exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding for a while. "What do I need to do now?"

Strangely, Percy thought he saw her cheeks flush, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. "About that...I need your help. See, every night, I will come here, but I will remember nothing about the conversation we had. Even today, I will not remember anything the next day. So..."

"You want me to help you remember?"

She nodded meekly. "I just have this feeling, like I'll recover from my condition if I remember my old self."

Percy was slightly taken aback at her request, but he responded, "Yeah, I don't mind." She smiled slightly. "Thank you, I can also give you some advice."

"Yeah..." Percy stifled a yawn, but he couldn't deny his fatigue. "I should leave now. See you tomorrow?"

She nodded and Percy started to take his leave, but he stopped suddenly and asked, "How do you know I won't just make something up?"

"Because I believe you will never do that," she replied confidently and looked at the sky. It was still dark, but she could just make out the wave of red light almost touching the horizon.

The blue combining with the red.

* * *

"So...do you want to start?" Hestia asked. The two of them were at the hearth. It was roughly midnight. Percy was wearing a black shirt and leggings to hopefully prevent him from being undetected. Hestia didn't really seem to care. Then again, if anyone saw Aelia, they would probably let her off scot free in a lovesick stupor.

It took Percy a moment to process that question. Too much was on his mind about today. "Huh? Oh yeah, today..."

She frowned. "Is something wrong?

He sighed, "Yeah...Annabeth...she's making things difficult for me." He winced, realizing how selfish that sounded. "I mean, I'm having trouble talking to her."

"Oh," Hestia replied, feeling a bit embarrassed, considering she had never been in a relationship her entire immortal life, so she did not know what advice to provide. "Well, what did she say?"

Percy didn't want to retell what had happened today – he didn't feel like sharing it with anyone, but since Hestia asked, he recounted their talk.

* * *

_It was lunchtime. All the demigods were at the dining area, which was rich in laughter and incessant chatter, with the occasional sound of clanking of utensils on the stone floor. Everyone was simply resting from their training._

_But Percy didn't feel like eating. His appetite was non-existent until he patched things up with Annabeth._

_Finally, he spotted her blonde hair at the Athena table. He walked over and asked, "Annabeth, could I have a word?"_

_Annabeth looked at him like he was some kind of machinery, scrutinizing his emotions and expressions. She shot a look at her siblings, who were all engrossed in the own conversations or food, though Percy was convinced they were listening to him, before saying, "Fine."_

_She got up and they went towards the area just outside the woods, where no one was there._

_"Well?"_

_Percy took a deep breath and said, "You got it all wrong, Annabeth."_

_"Fine, do enlighten me on where I made a mistake." Her voice dripped with sarcasm._

_"I don't like Aelia, I don't feel anything towards her at all. I still love you, okay? You don't have to worry about anything." Percy hesitated, just for a fraction of a second, maybe unnoticed by Annabeth, when he said "I still love you"._

_Of course he still loved her, but maybe it was because he loved her he had to let her go, or she would be harmed to hurt Percy. With the Giants' rise, he couldn't be by her side 24/7, and gods forbid if she was kidnapped by the Giants like the Ares campers._

_"Oh, please. Don't say that." She snapped, making Percy flinch. "She's so pretty and all the guys are fawning over her. How can you be any different? Plus, if I recall correctly, you were the one showing her around. What do you have to say about that?"_

_This time, Percy didn't have an answer. He wished he could tell her the real reason why he was the one giving the tour, but..._

_Stupid River Styx and the oath, he thought._

_The silence told Annabeth everything._

_"Just as I thought, can't think of an answer, can you Jackson? Tell you what, you stop associating with her, and I'll forgive you." With that, she spun on her heel and marched back to the dining hall._

* * *

Hearing this, Hestia felt pangs of guilt shoot through her heart. Percy seemed to notice this, because he smiled reassuringly and said, "It's not your fault. You weren't the one spreading all that jealousy. It's Aphrodite that's doing all this."

"Still..." the air felt colder to Hestia than usual.

"You know what? I'll just start talking about what I came here for." Percy said.

Hestia couldn't tell if she or Percy was more relieved at the change of topic, but she nodded.

"So, yesterday..." Percy talked about the things Hestia told him, about the Giants and Aphrodite, what he had to do sooner or later. He felt a bit weird talking to the person that told him about all this in the first place, but he did agree to help her, and he was glad that he didn't feel the pressure of having to save the world whenever he was around Hestia, almost like the same feeling he got when he was around Annabeth...maybe it was just the hearth.

When he was done, Hestia looked at the cinders, deep in thought. She could remember all of that, but she wanted to talk about their conversation, but she figured Percy wouldn't get it. It was late, and Hestia didn't want to exhaust him further. Plus, he was dumb that way.

_Maybe that is why Annabeth Chase likes him so much._

She immediately pushed that sudden thought away, feeling awkward she was having such thoughts.

"I think that is all. Thanks for your help, Perseus." She bowed her head in gratitude. Percy sighed, "I'd rather you call me Percy, milady."

"And I'd rather you not call me milady or Lady Hestia," Hestia shot back with a cheeky grin.

"Fine, if you call me Percy, I'll call you Hestia. Deal?"

"Deal." She smiled, and only then did Percy realize how pretty she looked when she did. He shook those feelings off as they came in shock. Thinking a chaste goddess was pretty was a big nope. He had to get out now.

"Good night, Hestia." He left without looking back.


	5. Closer

Chapter 5: Closer

"Can you tell some of the old stories about me?"

Percy thought about it for a while. He didn't exactly pay attention to his Mythology classes, especially, and he hated to admit it, the classes on Hestia, since he thought she was the last goddess he would meet, being the least warlike goddess.

He was fourteen then, and thought only the war-related subjects were of use to him. On hindsight, he probably should have learned. He only remembered some stories that Annabeth drilled into his head. He cleared his throat. "Um..."

Hestia knew that look. The way his upper lip covered his lower lip and formed a straight line and his eyes flickered everywhere yet refused to make eye contact. The slight tremble in his hands.

Percy suspected she knew about his displays of nervousness. A week of meeting under the cover of night did that to a person.

And in that one week, things seemed awfully calm, on Camp Half-Blood of course. No other campers had disappeared, and Dionysus told the campers not to send any search parties; the gods would handle this. Strangely, afterwards, he was recalled back to Olympus after delivering that message. The morale of the demigods did not increase from the news. Despite not many liking Dionsyus, having a god in their presence in the outbreak of a war was comforting. First the Ares campers, now Dionsyus, and this new demigod arriving said to be Aphrodite's mortal form. It was definitely the strangest and disturbing thing to happen in a long time.

Aelia's, or Aphrodite's popularity spread, as did her spite. It seemed with the arrival of the new demigod brought chaos among the campers. Already five arguments had broken out among them, all of them boys. The girls obviously loathed Aelia, but since she was a goddess, they couldn't express their feelings, in fear of being smiled if her powers were to return.

Percy thought it was rather strange that the children of Aphrodite were spiting their own mother. Could Aphrodite's power be so strong it could turn her own kin against her? Or was it something more foreign? More...sinister?

When Percy told Hestia about this, she felt as though a void had opened and vacuumed her insides. Guilt washed over her, even if, as Percy told her, it wasn't her fault.

"You don't know a lot about me?" She asked, a tinge of amusement to her voice.

Percy exhaled. "Well, I only know a few, and you probably don't want to hear them. You're better off not knowing."

"I'd rather know the painful truth than live with a comforting lie."

He shuffled uneasily. "Alright then. I guess the most well known thing about you was that you were chaste. You never married or fell in love, and hence rejected the marriage offers by Apollo and my dad." A pinch of anger bit at him for having to tell Hestia that she was to remain an eternal maiden.

Little did he know, the person next to him felt the same way, and that person in question chided herself afterwards heavily.

"Well, one night there was a party on Olympus, and you fell asleep in the woods, and this minor god, Priapus...he tried to...um...do it with you."

Hestia's face flushed from the story, but felt a bit thankful Percy tried to convey it in a better way.

"Anyway, there was a donkey nearby, and he brayed loudly just as he got close to you, and the other gods heard it, and then they rescued you. Afterwards, Priapus wasn't invited to anymore Olympian parties." He finished quickly.

They sat in a silence for a moment before he said, "You still think the painful truth is better?"

Hestia didn't have an answer, for once.

* * *

"You're not allowed to bring cellphones in here, are you?" Hestia looked at the device in Percy's hand in apprehension, like it was going to suddenly explode.

Percy grinned and put his index finger to his lips. "Don't tell anyone. Plus, I won't be using it to call, or communicate in general. It has a voice memo function, so it can storytell better than my memory can. You can just listen to it. Here, I'll start recording."

He pressed a button and the screen displayed a flashing red circle.

"You could get yourself in trouble if you get caught with it," Hestia warned, but her heart was beating wildly that Percy was taking such risks for her.

"It's alright. I don't mind."

They talked like they always did night after night, each drinking in the other's company, savouring the moments, though neither wanted to admit it. They were friends, but to be more than that was to trespass into forbidden territory.

Percy knew that he couldn't like Hestia, since she was a maiden goddess would never accept him. Additionally, he would be disintegrated by the gods if they knew about this: a demigod liking a chaste goddess. Then again, she wouldn't like him back anyway, and he already had a...could be even call Annabeth his girlfriend anymore? Where was the trust relationships were supposed to have? Instead, he had to prove it to her he still loved her, but Annabeth didn't see that.

It was not entirely his fault. Aphrodite did play some part in this, he knew.  _Stupid love goddess._

"Percy?" Hestia asked hesitantly. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?" Percy snapped out of his reverie. "Oh, sorry."

"Thinking about Annabeth?" The name tasted sour in Hestia's mouth. It was funny how one person's happiness could be his unhappiness. Despite being the goddess of peace, she wanted

nothing but to slap the daughter of Athena upside the head.

Percy smiled weakly. "Always able to read my mind."

"Well then, don't think about her. Think about something else that made you happy."

Percy did, and when they locked eyes, Hestia knew exactly what he was thinking of.

His eyes said,  _I'm thinking about you and I, and all our times we spent together._

Time seemed to elongate in that moment, letting them freeze that moment in time. The living world quieted, and sound itself vanished into a void. Their hearts raced, with no care for rhythm or steadiness.

Then, out of the blue, a voice broke the silence.

"Percy?"

* * *

The pit of Tartarus was not what it seemed. The gods and mortals thought it was simply the prison for the worst beings, the Titans and the Giants, but in reality, while the visible side showed a fiery pit of eternal fire, cliffs and rocks that jutted with deadly spikes and chains and manacles that bound the immortals to the pit, both spirit and body, the invisible side was a palace of brimstone and obsidian.

The palace was not shrouded from the Mist, for the Mist was created by Hecate, then-Titan of magic, and there were things, immortals, far more ancient than her. Immortals, like the primordial god of the pit himself, Tartarus.

Obsidian walls formed a square on a huge cliff just beside a fiery lake of lava, and from the corners of each wall erected a tower with a pyramid roof. Pit Iron, a demonic metal found only in Tartarus, were used to make gates large enough to fit ten Cerberuses were placed on the wall facing away from the cliff for visitors.

Inside the castle hung torches that glowed with molten gold, and pillars made of fire and brimstone. Staircases leading to endless different rooms would have even Daedalus himself marvel at the Giant's creations that rivalled the Labyrinth. A Giant was sitting on a throne made of the same material used to create the palace.

The throne was elevated by three steps of staircases fit for Giants to walk on, surrounded by a moat of lava. At the foot of the stairs knelt another Giant.

The kneeling Giant had skin the colour of ash and arms and legs thicker than tree trunks. His face had empty eye sockets and no mouth. Shadows formed a cloak he donned, and wherever the shadows touched, the light hissed and faded like acid dissolving iron. Wherever he moved, darkness formed an afterimage of the Giant.

The one on the throne wore shining silver armour that covered his entire body, only leaving out his joints. His legs were scaly like a dragon. He only had one eye much like a cyclops. In one

hand, he held a spear that crackled with purple lightning. Ancient Greek letters hovered in the air around him, revolving around like planets revolving around the sun - a gravitational pull.

"Clytius," the seated Giant rumbled, "What news do you bring?"

_The plan succeeded, Encladeus. We move on to the next ' voice was not spoken from him, but resonated around the room._

Encladeus' mouth curled up into a crooked smile. "Wonderful."

* * *

"Annabeth-" Percy began.

A flash of bronze. Beside him, Hestia doubled over in pain, clutching her gut, making a choked noise.

In the light of the moon, Percy saw Annabeth's dagger embedded into her stomach. Scarlet stained her dress.

"Wretch," Annabeth spat venomously.

"Hestia!" Percy rushed to her side. He carefully removed the blade, threw it onto the floor and looked at Annabeth, who was watching the scene with murderous rage. "Why, Annabeth?"

Percy said. "If you hate me, why hurt her?"

"She's the reason why you don't love me anymore," Annabeth cried.

Percy was too stunned to reply. Hestia's breaths were short and desperate. He had to get her to the infirmary now.

"What's gotten into you?" Percy shouted, sadness in his tone. "The Annabeth I knew wasn't like this."

"SHUT UP!" Annabeth screamed right back. But she wasn't looking at him, she was looking in Hestia's direction. As Percy watched, for a fraction of a second, he saw Aelia's form grinning at Annabeth, saying something that only seemed to increase her anger. At the same time, Annabeth's irises became pink in colour, not her usual grey.

 _Aphrodite is doing this,_ Percy realized.  _She's not seeing her as Hestia._

Annabeth screamed and lunged forward and grabbed the dagger on the floor. Percy reacted quickly, unsheathing Riptide and parrying the slash meant for Hestia.

Slowly, Annabeth's gaze switched to Percy. Tears started to stream down her face. She staggered back and dropped the dagger.

"So, you choose her over me?" She whispered.

"Annabeth-" Percy's tongue felt frozen. "I...it's not like that..."

"Yeah? Then what is it? If you still love me, tell me."

Silence trailed her words like shadows. The words wouldn't form in his throat. Could he really believe that he still loved her?

"TELL ME!" She practically wailed.

"I don't...know," he quietly replied.

Annabeth wiped the tears away. Her expression was one of sadness rather than anger. "Well then," she said, "get her out of here, or I'll throw with more accuracy the next time I see her."

He couldn't help Annabeth fight Aphrodite's magic. Taking her word with absolute seriousness, he grabbed Hestia and ran out of the gates.


	6. Sorrow

Chapter 6: Sorrow

Percy stared into the depths of the flames, unable to form a complete thought in his mind. He was unofficially banished from camp with an injured Hestia, hated by his girlfriend, and could not approach anyone, for they would be inflicted by Aphrodite's charm. He was not sure whether his parents would be affected, but better to stay safe.

And so here he was, camping in the woods a considerable distance away from Camp Half-blood. At least he managed to swipe some bandages from a nearby convenience store and dress Hestia's wound. He had also taken two sleeping bags. Lastly, he made a fire for two reasons. One, he needed the warmth, and beyond the borders were not under the magic of the controllable weather. Two, he hoped that Hestia would still remain in her form, and not switch back to Aphrodite.

He recalled the events that happened earlier. What if he had just lied and said that he still loved Annabeth? Would it be better Hestia receive medical attention earlier, instead of after she had lost a lot of blood? Would it be better, if he had distanced himself from her, so that she would be safe?

Then what? He couldn't stand to not be around Hestia at night. She had become something deeper than a friend to him. She had become a part of his life. And nothing would take him away from her.

The conviction in his thoughts rattled him, the part of his mind that told him it was wrong, but he didn't care.

He heard the quiet snoring of Hestia beside him and turned to look at her. Her face looked so peaceful and pale, nothing like the dark side of Aelia Hawthorn. He suddenly noticed that the cinders that sparked from the fire seemed to drift towards Hestia, some touching her although not hurting. They glowed sunrise yellow when they did. At the same time, he heard a soft hiss.

_They're expelling Aphrodite from the form._

He reached over and covered her head with her cloak, and as he did that, something deep overpowered him. Something warm, spilling from his head to toe, an overwhelming sense of…

_Love._

As though he had been possessed, he gently brushed his lips on her right cheek and whispered, "Good night, Hestia." Then, he turned over and slept.

Just as Percy drifted into a peaceful slumber, the goddess of the hearth opened her eyes and brushed the spot where the demigod had kissed her, the first ever in her entire immortal life. You didn't just go up to a chaste goddess, especially the chastest of all, and kiss her. The gods would smite anyone who did that. But now Percy Jackson had done it, and what was her reaction?

Ever so slightly, her lips curled up into a small smile, lighting up her face.

* * *

**(Author's Note: YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I WANTED TO END THE CHAPTER RIGHT HERE TO SEE YOU GUYS SQUIRM. JUST SAYING)**

Camp Half-blood was in absolute chaos. The Ares campers were missing, along with Percy Jackson. The gods were not responding to the prayers. The strangest thing was, everyone seemed to recall a strange demigod that had appeared, but the description of black hair, blue eyes and stunning radiance was not found in the camp, not even the Aphrodite cabin.

Chiron was having some trouble getting the campers to settle down as the camp assembled in the amphitheatre. The flames were bright orange and moved wildly.

"Heroes!" Chiron roared, stamping his hooves for what seemed like the hundredth time. Finally did everyone quieten, though the flames still burned with the same excited passion.

"I know about the matters everyone wants to discuss! The Ares campers and Percy Jackson are missing, and there seems to be a strange girl that everyone remembers but is not found within the camp. When we turn to the gods for guidance, they have not answered our prayers. Olympus seems to be closed."

This set off another chain of chatter. Chiron stamped his hooves again and shouted for silence.

"Do not fear, we will ask the Oracle for a quest, to find our missing campers. Let us hope the Oracle has not abandoned us yet."

All eyes turned to one girl in particular. Annabeth Chase looked up at Chiron, her mentor and nodded grimly. "I accept the quest."

* * *

Annabeth walked in a confident and calm manner. A manner worthy of a daughter of Athena.

Yet inside, Annabeth's feeling raged like a tornado. She was the only one that remembered seeing Percy run away with that strange demigod everyone was talking about.

Percy had looked at Annabeth in fear, something he had never done before. And the girl was bleeding…

 **He looked at you like you were a monster,** a voice not like hers whispered.  **Yet you embark on a quest to find him.**

Annabeth forced that voice down, though the damage had been done. Why was she trying to find him? Was that girl his new—

"ENOUGH!" Annabeth screamed at herself, when she was alone nearing the Big House. She opened the door with a shaky hand, all confidence shattered. She let out her sorrow and sadness she had kept inside since today. The calmness she had displayed earlier was false, her confidence she had shown everyone was but a lie. These were her true emotions. The terror that her boyfriend had gone missing threatened to overwhelm her soul. Would he have cheated on her? No, he would not. That was not the Percy Jackson she knew and loved so much.

She had woken up, as if from a dream, to find herself in the amphitheatre alone at two in the morning, her bronze dagger on the ground a few metres away from her, soaked with blood.

In the morning, she realised that the Poseidon and Ares cabin were empty. Everyone did, but only she remembered, hazily, about the possible events that could have occurred at the amphitheatre. The blood on her dagger could have been from that demigod, but why did she throw it, and who was she?

Her legs were weak. She sat down on the hardwood floor of the Big House and curled up into a ball, her head in her knees. Her head spun.

 _I will not cry._ She told herself over and over like a mantra.  _I will not._

She heard footsteps.

_That's impossible. No one lives here…_

She drew her dagger and got up slowly.

As though she were imagining things, which to be honest, seemed to be happening to her a lot, the attic door opened, and a girl about one or two years younger emerged from the attic. She wore a rainbow-coloured dress and modest jewellery. She had short black hair and onyx eyes that overloaded with ancient power. Annabeth's eyes widened.

"Who are you?"

The girl smiled and replied, "I'm the Oracle. Do you want some tea?"

* * *

"Nico told me about you," Annabeth finally said. They were both sitting on chairs in the attic which looked completely different. The musty smell of rot was gone and not a speck of dust was found. The unused furniture was cleaned. Golden sunlight basked the room in a warm glow. Annabeth's hand shook slightly as she raised her porcelain cup of American Breakfast to her lips.

"Ah, I'm sorry. Who now?" The Oracle inquired, taking a sip of her tea.

"My friend, the son of-" Annabeth caught herself. She knew the story. It was Hades that has cursed the Oracle. To talk about the person that had cursed her was rubbing salt in a wound.

"Hades?" She smiled amiably. "It's all right. I hold no grudges against the Lord of the Dead."

Annabeth shifted awkwardly in her seat.

"So!" The Oracle said. "What's happening now? I sense distress within the campers and even more in you." She pointed at Annabeth.

Slowly, Annabeth explained everything, but left out the part where she had a vision that Percy ran away with the mysterious demigod. Something told her she should not mention that.

"And now I've taken a quest to search for the Ares campers and Percy, and preferably find out who that girl is." She finished breathlessly.

The Oracle leaned back, stroking strands of her hair in deep thought. "Well…"

Suddenly, green mist issued itself from the girl's mouth. It coiled around her like a snake, wrapping her in a cocoon of the Mist. She closed her eyes and when she opened them, they were empty of irises, instead filled with the green mist. She spoke in a symphony of wailing voices, like a choir at a funeral, echoing around the attic.

Despite having seen the same thing happen before the last time she had received a quest, Annabeth still felt uncomfortable and slightly intimidated.

" _Wisdom's daughter walks alone,_

_Son of the sea, hunted by his own._

_To save him, she must find the fire,_

_But whether he saves her, is his desire._

_By the summer solstice's conclusion,_

_She must break everyone from their illusions._

_Or the giants shall claim the death of all,_

_And hence, Olympus will fall."_


	7. Two Quests, One Goal

"Percy," a familiar voice said. It sounded far away.

"Dad?" Percy peered through the darkness. Where was he? His surroundings shifted and formed into a familiar scene: the hearth at Camp Half-blood. Poseidon stood at the hearth staring into it with sadness, one hand holding his trident.

His mind wracked with familiar pain of loss, surging up like a tsunami. The memories pierced his head like lightning, one of the best times of his life. Then he saw his father's gaze on the cinders, and he asked, "You know about Hestia?"

For a terrifying second, Percy wondered if his father knew about his affections for the goddess, but when Poseidon faced him, he saw no signs of anger. "Yes, I do. I saw her when we examined Aelia, but it was weak, and I knew the other gods would not believe it. But then I saw that you could see her as well. She needs your help, Percy. I cannot interfere - the Ancient Laws prevent me from doing so. But a demigod can."

Percy's face hardened into determination. "What do I need to do?"

The God of the sea slammed his trident onto the ground. After a small delay, cracks spread from the trident. Cerulean light blasted from the depths. As Percy watched, he realised that the cracks formed a map.

"This is a map of Greece. This is where Olympus is." He pointed at the centre of the map. Greek letters appeared from where he had pointed, spelling Olympus. "Do you know the story of Prometheus and fire?"

"Yes, Prometheus smuggled fire from the hearth in Olympus and gave it to mankind. He then got punished because he disobeyed Zeus." Percy gave a small summary of the myth he had learned. It wasn't his favourite.

"You are mostly correct. Prometheus did indeed smuggle fire by using a fennel stalk to give it to man out of pity. After he was punished, that fennel stalk became a sort of sacred symbol to Hestia, since it was a symbol of heartfelt emotion towards humans."

"What does that have to do with now?"

Poseidon fixed his green eyes on his son. "When Hestia holds the fennel stalk in her hand, the spirit of Aphrodite will be banished and she will return to what she was."

"Will she get her powers back as well?" Percy's mind was racing with the possibility he held on a single thread.

"It is most likely."

"Then where is it?"

Poseidon said nothing in reply, instead pointing at a new location on the map. "It is at Athens."

"So I need to go there?" He asked. Poseidon shook his head. "The power of the gods move. During ancient times, we belonged to Greece. Now, we reside in America. Therefore, the two locations, America and Greece, collide. So, if Mount Olympus in Ancient Greece is in New York now, then it is in Richmond today."

"I'll go there now." Percy declared.

Poseidon nodded slowly. "One last thing. You cannot bring Hestia with you."

Percy was stunned. "Why?"

"She's dangerous. You and I may see her as Hestia, but the others will see her as Aphrodite. The minute she is gazed on anyone else, jealousy and infatuation will arise. You saw how close Annabeth was. Imagine if the whole mortal world became such."

Poseidon's words hit him hard, jarring him to reality. He took a breath to calm his nerves. "I understand."

"Good," Poseidon said with a tone of finality, "Percy, you must stop the Giants. I will aid you in any way I can if it is ever possible. At the same time, perhaps I can convince the Olympians. And know this, you are never alone."

Was it just him, or did Poseidon's last words have a slightly chilling undertone?

Percy had one last look at the hearth, camp and his father before the God of the sea waved his hands and Percy descended into darkness.

* * *

Percy smelled the cool dawn air even before he arose. He looked around and pieces of memory started to come back to him, like shattered shards of glasses reforming themselves. Shakily, he stood up and looked at the sky. It was still dark, perhaps three in the morning.

He shot a quick look at Hestia. He could not bring her along, but how could she survive? Would she be able to find her way?

His questions were answered. From the ground sprouted a seashell the size of a coin, and Percy was sure that it was not there before. He squatted down and examined it closely. It was clean, with no speck of forest dirt to taint it, and glowed with power. Slowly, Percy held it gingerly with his thumb and index finger.

_Poseidon's voice spoke in his mind, Percy, this is a gift for Hestia. It will keep her nourished with food and water, and will also shroud her with The Mist. She will be safe._

Gratitude overwhelmed Percy like a raging waterfall.  _Thanks, dad,_  Percy told him sincerely.

He quickly scrawled a short note, explaining where he was going, why Hestia could not come and what the seashell did. It would take about six hours to get there, so that's half a day of travelling back and forth. And Poseidon hadn't told Percy where it would be. So it would take roughly a day, and that was if everything went smoothly.

Percy snorted. In his demigod life, when has anything went smoothly?

He placed the seashell on top of the note where Hestia would be able to see it when she woke up. He said a silent prayer that she would be safe and the seashell would protect her.

"I'll come back, Hestia," Percy murmured, "I promise."

* * *

"Sorry for scaring you. The spirit of Delphi does this a lot." The Oracle muttered, tapping her head. Annabeth nodded numbly, her mind still trying to process the words of the prophecy.

"What did it say?" She asked. Annabeth really did not feel like talking about it, but she recounted the prophecy word by word. After she was finished, The Oracle's eyes were filled with sympathy. "Don't assume the worst, Annabeth. Prophecies usually have double meanings, as I'm sure Chiron has told you before. Go get some rest, and set off on your quest the next day. Ask Chiron for guidance. He has more knowledge than me, what being immortal and all."

"I will. Thanks...for the tea," Annabeth said dumbly, and raced out of the door.

By the time Annabeth returned to the amphitheater, she saw only the councillors and Chiron waiting for her with grim expressions. "The prophecy?" Chiron asked gently.

Annabeth's breath caught in her throat like a jammed lever. She didn't want to tell them. It felt too...private. Another prophecy that talked about her and Percy. And this time, the prophecy was about whether Percy wanted to save her or not. Why wouldn't he save her?

What was more, how was she, Annabeth Chase, a 16-year old daughter of Athena, supposed to save Olympus, and the gods from their illusions, by the end of the summer solstice?

Mentally, she calculated that today was June 6th, meaning that it was 14 days till the summer solstice on the 20th.

Suddenly, she noticed that she had been so lost in her thoughts she had forgotten Chiron and the councillors were still waiting for an answer.

"Um...well, it went like this." She recounted the first three lines, but left out the last, feeling like she shouldn't tell them. She noted the skeptical expressions, as most prophecies rhymed and were much longer than three lines. Perhaps the most unconvinced was Chiron, who still remembered the last time Annabeth had lead a quest, leaving out the last line because she was too scared. His ancient eyes spoke of intelligence, and Annabeth had a feeling that Chiron knew something was amiss, but she was too afraid to speak it here.

Later, his expression seemed to say.

"It's pretty obvious," Katie Gardner said, "that the 'son of the sea' is Percy, and that he's being hunted."

"By who?" Travis Stoll said. "'By his own' could mean lots of people. Demigods, his own siblings..."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the huddled group. They couldn't imagine demigods hunting each other. If it were siblings, it'd have to be someone on Percy's godly side.

"How about the next one, eh?" Connor Stoll chimed in. "You're going to save him Annabeth!" His voice held slight excitement and hope. "But what fire do you have to find?"

"There's only one well-known fire in Greek mythology," Chiron said, his sentence ending in a questioning tone.

"Prometheus," Annabeth said, with a tinge of awe, "the creator of mankind."

Chiron nodded his head. "You'll find the fire in Richmond, if the civilisation of Greece transferred to America correctly. I'm sorry you can't take any more companions, Annabeth."

Annabeth nodded grimly. The other councillors regarded her with what seemed like sympathy, but Annabeth didn't mind. She didn't feel like having companions anyway. It just wasn't the same without Percy around.

Then again, life didn't feel the same without Percy around. Nothing felt the same anymore.


	8. Raging Emotions

Chapter 8: Raging Emotions

Riptide appeared in a blaze of bronze light. Immediately, Percy swung it at Mimas' legs, emitting a growl of anger from the giant. He stumbled slightly but soon regained his balance and smashed his shield into the ground, causing a slight tremor. Percy slammed Riptide into the ground as well to stabilise the quake, barely having time to dodge the incoming spear.

"You fight well, demigod," Mimas grudgingly said, pulling his spear back to ready another strike, "but I am a giant, and you cannot defeat me."

Percy gritted his teeth. Though he was holding up well against the giant, he could see what he meant. Wounds he had made were healing at an incredibly fast rate and Mimas did not seem to be tiring. Percy, on the other hand, felt exhaustion numbing his limbs.

"What?" The giant taunted. "Finding out the truth and so silent? Where was the arrogant Perseus Jackson just a few minutes ago? Controlling your father got you so angry?"

"SHUT UP!" Percy shouted, lunging forward in a reckless motion. Mimas, anticipating this, knocked him aside with his shield, laughing. Percy slammed into the concrete wall of the museum, groaning in pain.

Rage boiled inside him. Rage at the Giants, the war, Aphrodite for controlling Poseidon, luring him here for Mimas to kill him.

He thrust his hand towards the approaching Mimas and a wave of water exploded from the water fountain nearby, slamming into him. Mimas roared as the current swept him off his feet, but Percy knew it would not hold him down for long. He fished his pocket and, to his shock and delight, pulled out a drachma. He threw it into the mist created by the water and hesitated. Who was he supposed to call? If all the Olympians were under Aphrodite's spell...

He shouted the first name that came into his mind: "O Goddess Iris, accept my offering. Show me Hecate, goddess of magic!"

The rainbow shimmered and Hecate's face stared at Percy. "It is you," she breathed, "the famed Perseus Jackson, the one who caused the downfall of the Titans, and he dares show his face to me."

"I need your help, Hecate. Please." Percy said, one eye looking at where Mimas last disappeared under a large pile of rubble.

"Need my help?" She repeated disbelievingly. "After what you did to us, you ask me for help?"

"Yes, I am. Help me kill Mimas. Giants can only be killed by a demigod and God working together. Whatever you ask of me in assistance, I swear by the River Styx, I will complete."

The goddess of magic contemplated that. Percy could see the rubble starting to shake. Time was running out and desperation slowly overtook Percy's mind.

"Very well," Hecate waved her hand. A bolt of energy lashed itself at Mimas as he rose from the concrete, bellowing in rage.

The tendril of magic did not hurt him, but wrapped itself around Mimas like a cocoon. Mimas struggled in the magic bindings. "What is this?" He shouted.

"A goddess' help," Percy replied, running up to Mimas, blade in hand. Horror crept into the giant's eyes as Percy approached him. For once, percy didn't feel like making a snappy statement. He stabbed him in the chest. Mimas wailed in agony, slowly dissolving along with Hecate's magic. Nothing remained of the giant except for the bronze shield, spear and a large pile of sand.

Percy stood on top of the sand where a giant had once lain, defeated and trapped in magic. He didn't feel victorious in the least. Instead, he turned back to the Iris Message and was surprised, or perhaps not, to see Hecate watching the scene with impassive eyes.

"Thank you, Lady Hecate." Percy bowed.

"Do not thank me yet, demigod. Your oath is bound, and you owe me a task." Hecate said, waving her hands and everything in the Museum of Greek History cleaned itself: the rubble magically attached themselves back into the walls, the water flowed reversely back into the fountain, like the building had went back in time, and no giant was waiting for Percy the moment he stepped inside.

Percy met the goddess' gaze. "What is it I have to do?"

* * *

Annabeth scanned the map. She knew The Mist shrouded certain magic locations in some public directories. It was up to the demigods to figure out where the hidden place was. Her eyes circled the miniaturised Richmond multiple times before she found something written in Greek characters.

"Got you," she murmured under her breath. Her finger traced the characters: The Fennel Stalk. It was in the Edgar Allan Poe Museum.

Funny, she thought, a symbol of peace next to a museum dedicated to a goddess of warfare. It was rather strange to visit her half-brother's museum, but since she had never been here, she might as well crash the place.

After hailing a cab and travelling downtown, she alighted at the museum. It looked like an ordinary brick-and-tile house, with glass windows, dome archways and a wooden door. Everything was coloured in dull hues. Being a daughter of Athena, she could appreciate the architecture.

She stepped inside and immediately noticed the small handful of people, mostly tourists that were either European or Asian that were inside the building. Considering it was a weekend, that was not a lot. Suddenly, she wished Grover were here to smell any monsters, but thanks to that horrible prophecy, she couldn't.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of hissing. It seemed to be coming from the tourists, who Annabeth realised, were all looking at her.

Out loud, she said, "Show yourself, you creeps. I'm in no mood for games."

The hissing grew louder. As one voice, they chorused in hollow yet rich voices, void of emotion, "Welcome, Annabeth Chase, to the last place you will ever visit."

Annabeth unsheathed her dagger. "I've heard that so much, it's becoming amusing. Who are you, and were you waiting for me or hunting me?"

The tourists' mouths opened and black sand and water flowed from them, all combining into one large creature, expanding in size. As it grew, darkness spread around the room, shattering the lights. The door shut behind Annabeth.

The mixture of sand and water lowered itself to the ground and took on a more humanoid shape. The grip on Annabeth's dagger tightened, as did her chest.

Suddenly, a burst of black, murky water - no, not water, but something else entirely, knocked her off her feet. Almost instantly, the tourists around the room crumpled to the ground and dissolved into the floor, leaving no trace of anything. She groaned but immediately got up again.

The creature was twice the size of her. It donned a midnight black cloak made of shadows that rippled even with no wind. Its body was completely dark, in either black or grey . In his right hand, it carried a spear. It had no face, save for the two empty eye sockets.

_It's made of ash,_ Annabeth realised _, ash and darkness._

Then it spoke. Seeing as it had no mouth, its voice echoed around the dark room. "Greetings, demigod. To answer your second question, I am waiting for you, but my intentions are not hostile."

"The spear tells me otherwise."

The creature inclined its head. "If that is what will calm you..." He made a fist with his right hand, and the spear in it disappeared.

"And to answer your first question, I am Clytius, Giant of shadows, bane of Hecate, the Silent One."

Blood drained from Annabeth's face. She had read stories of the Gigantomachy. They spoke of the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus, the thirty feet high immortals unable to be killed by demigod or god, only by a combination of both. The war against the gods came closer than the Titanomachy.

"What do you want?"

"Why, I have come with a generous offer I assure you you would not want to decline."

"And that is?"

"Aid our cause, in return for your boyfriend, Percy Jackson."

* * *

Sunlight felt new to Hestia. She hadn't felt it in what felt like forever. Her skin shivered as it was basked in the warmth, though there was nothing chilly. It felt foreign and strange. She was always alive at night, so all she had been feeling for weeks was the cold grasp of the night, the fire of the hearth, and the darkness.

She gazed at the campfire. She silently thanked the hearth for dispelling Aphrodite, at least for this while, so she could feel the warmth. She was not sure when Aphrodite would take over, and she wouldn't know it when she did. To describe it, it was like being injected with ether. All your nerves shut down, your mind becoming sleepy and unfocused.

She was lying on something soft. She looked down. It was a sleeping bag.

_Strange, she thought, when did I get here?_

She sat up and winced. She instinctively put her hand on her stomach. It was bandaged up. Memories came flooding back to her of last night's incident. Annabeth Chase had injured her and Percy took her and ran away...ran away here.

And then he kissed her...

"Percy?" Hestia looked around, suddenly noticing the silence except for the sounds of nature. She looked at the campfire, which was no longer burning. There was a seashell on it and next to it was a note. She took it and read:

_Hestia,_

_This is a seashell that will satisfy your hunger and thirst. Went on a quest. Sorry I can't bring you. Will be back as soon as possible._

_Take care,_

_Percy_

Guilty sadness enveloped Hestia. Sadness that Percy had left her, even if it was only temporarily, guilt that she was thinking that way, especially about a male. How would the Olympians react if they found out about this? Millions and millions of years of myths all wrong. The goddess of the hearth and chastity herself was not chaste. The outrage would be devastating.

Do I really like him? She asked herself. She thought about the things Percy had done, and the memories and experiences they shared. His unintelligent yet fierce, dangerous yet caring, rude yet respectful personality.

But he's a boy, and you are supposed to be a chaste goddess, a voice in her mind argued, but its tone was halfhearted. She hated that voice.

_He likes me, doesn't he?_

_Yes._

_And I like him, don't I?_

_..._

_Yes._


	9. Darkness

Chapter 9: Darkness

Annabeth spluttered. "You captured Percy?"

The Giant's voice sounded jovial. "Indeed, and if you wish to see him returned unharmed, you will consider our generous offer  _carefully_." The last word sounded almost like a hiss.

"No," Annabeth said disbelievingly, "he wouldn't get captured. He's evaded capture from everyone, even the Titans."

"Ah, but we are not the Titans. We are much, much better, and smarter than them. While their plan to destroy Mount Olympus was admirable, it would not have done much. Their strategy is nothing compared to us."

Clytius' words rang in her ears. It was true, what he said. The Giants were indeed more powerful in all aspects. Mythology supported their claim. But Percy...would he get captured? Even if he did, he always had a way out, no matter what.

And she was going to take that leap of faith.

"What if I said no?" She challenged.

"Well, I would leave you unharmed, I swear on the Styx, but I assure you, your boyfriend's fate will not be so. And the next time we meet, Annabeth Chase, we will be shedding blood and ichor on the fields of war."

Annabeth took a deep breath. She believed that Percy would not be captured. No, not just believed. Trusted. Completely and utterly put faith in him, that everything the Giant said was a lie. That Percy would do what he always did, and what Annabeth always saw him do.

_To save him, she must find the fire._

"I decline. Now, get out." She said with as much force as she could muster.

The Giant's body dissipated with a soft hiss of disapproval. "You have no idea what you have just done." Were Clytius' last words. She felt the immortal's presence leave the building.

_Now, back to finding that fennel stalk._

* * *

"I can't see anything." Percy complained, speaking, and hopefully received by her, to Hecate. It was true. Hecate had plopped him straight down somewhere. Mist - he was not even sure if it was the magical Mist or mortal mist - hung in the air.

Hecate's voice echoed from above. "Just find the statue," she said. "The torches will guide you." And with that, her presence left the area.

_Torches?_

Just as the thought entered his mind, two flickering lights appeared out of nowhere, shining in the fog. They seemed to be waiting for him.

Percy took a step forward experimentally. In response, the torches moved forward with him. Drawing Riptide, Percy wandered forward in the fog. At first, Percy didn't understand the need for them. The torches weren't dispersing the fog nor helping his vision. The mist still clouded his eyes. But as he progressed, the torches cast shadows on trees Percy would have hit if not for them. He made a mental note to thank Hecate later.

Suddenly, Percy heard the sound of whistling arrows.

An arrow as long as his arm embedded itself in the oak behind him, missing his eyes by an inch.

* * *

Hestia never liked darkness. Being the goddess of the hearth, she always liked warmth and light, the comforting heat of the fireplace and the flickering flames within its depths. Darkness was unsettling, which was why she was always distressed in the day. Whenever Aphrodite controlled Aelia, her mind would seem to be locked inside a dark room, where nothing went in or out. She never got to see what Aelia was doing, or what time it was. But when she guided herself to the hearth every evening, the mental prison would be unlocked, and her mind would immediately jump to the situation.

Talking to Percy Jackson.

Hades, she missed those few weeks. More than anything in the universe. The casual yet exciting talks they had, what she would give for that to continue, with no Giants or war at hand.

Maybe she should feel ashamed, being infatuated with a boy. But she didn't care, she didn't want to care, to hear about her vows of maidenhood.

A horrifying thought suddenly shocked her. What if he doesn't know? The possibility seemed surreal and made her sound like a mortal teenage girl who was vying for her crush's attention.

She considered the likelihood, the results clashing. She remembered one night, just after they agreed not to call each other by their formal names. He had grinned at her, but then it slipped off his face almost instantly, and then he'd left without looking back. Not another word came from him except for "Good night, Hestia."

He had also left her behind...though that was probably because Aphrodite would pose a threat to the mortals. Percy had thought about her, in a way. By leaving her by the hearth, she remained in her consciousness, although Hestia did not recall ever telling Percy how it felt like when Aphrodite took over.

Deep down, at her most inner thoughts, more submerged than the pit of Tartarus, she always wondered how life would be like with romantic love. The Hunter Calisto had broken her vow unwillingly, but Artemis was willing to release her with grace and help her find a husband that could love her. A good husband. A decent man, Artemis would have said.

Like Percy.

Memories of Percy's actions displayed engulfed her wisps of doubt. He had broken the rules, left the camp, defended and bandaged her.

All because of her.

And where was she now? Darkness surrounded her - she could not even see her hands. It didn't feel like her mind was in the dark, but rather her entire body. This was more physical than mental. Questions ran through her mind. What was going on? Where was she?

A small light sparked as though she were in a long, dark tunnel and the door at the end had opened up to sunshine. Hope swelled in her heart.

Then, in front of her, like despair itself could speak, a gravely and hollow voice spoke in a tone with graciousness yet an edge of cruelty, "Welcome, Hestia."

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice trembling slightly.

The voice laughed. A laugh with no humour. "Why, I am your half-brother."

* * *

The net sprang faster than Percy could react. A hunting net with four iron spheres at the ends wrapped around Percy. Magically, the iron spheres melted into molten metal and combined with each other and hardened.

Percy struggled in the net, but with every movement, the net tightened. He decided that resisting was useless.

In front of him, he heard the sound of footsteps. He scanned the mist. Two small spotlights two heads higher than him flashed in the darkness. The two torches blinked and snuffed out. As he watched, the spotlights occasionally blinked and scanned his entire form. He blinked the spots out of his eyes.

He made out an approaching form, around thirty feet tall. Percy's heart skipped a beat. It was a giant. The lights seemed to be coming from the Giant's eyes, perhaps a pair of goggles. He could see he or she carried a bow, made out of a metal that intermittently glowed red. The bowstring was a bolt of turquoise electricity that stretched from one end to the other. A quiver was strapped to the Giant's back, abundant with arrows.

Finally, the Giant stood in front of Percy. It raised a hand, and Percy could see it was robotic, with wiring and circuits connecting the hand and fingers together. The Giant was some kind of cyborg. Its face was the scarier part. Contrary to what Percy thought were goggles, the spotlights were the Giant's eyes. Like the hand, they were made out of technology. It wore a mask that almost looked like Darth Vader.

"Greetings, Perseus Jackson." He said. Definitely a he, for the voice was masculine. The voice sounded like it spoke from a microphone, with some feedback and static.

"Who are you?" He managed to say.

The Giant tilted his head to the side. The spotlights flickered for a brief moment, like even he was confused by how dumb Percy was. It heaved a sigh of what sounded like disappointment.

"I am your brother. I am Orion."

The realisation set in. The myths started to set in, how Orion had been blinded by a King and found Hephaestus, who out of pity constructed two robotic eyes for him, although Percy was not sure how Orion had gained his other robotic limbs. He could see his right leg also was made out of metal.

"Good to know," Percy said. "Did Hecate set me up?"

The Giant threw his head back and howled with laughter. "Yes, she is on our side. You must be extremely unintelligent to say that."

"I've heard that a lot. I'll take it as a compliment."

Orion snapped his fingers and Hecate appeared beside him. Her eyes glowed with amusement, and something else Percy could not quite place his finger on.

"You're helping them again, Hecate? I asked for the minor gods to be pardoned, and you still side against Olympus?"

The goddess met his gaze. "What else have the Olympians done for us? The only thing we received was not to be thrown into Tartarus. Yet we still remained ignored and shunned. Believe me, the Giants can do so much more. After all, an Olympian is with us, and not just any Olympian, but the eldest one."

"And you still had to kill Mimas for that." Orion grumbled, crossing his arms. The bowstring of volts disappeared as that happened.

"It was to earn the demigod's trust, Orion." Hecate sniffed in reply. But her eyes remained locked on Percy. Suddenly, Percy realised what was going on. Orion did not know Percy had sworn on the Styx. If Hecate had wanted, she could have transported Percy immediately.

"A likely story." The spotlights on Orion's eyes narrowed. The goddess raised her hand threateningly. A sphere of red energy formulated on her palm.

Suddenly, Percy noticed a red tendril of the same crimson energy sawing the net. With every movement the bolt made, the sphere in Hecate's hand pulsed, and he saw her hand tremble slightly.

It all happened so fast. The second Percy saw the spotlights dilate, the net snapped. He lashed forward immediately, Riptide already expanding to its full length in his other hand, parrying the arrow meant for Hecate. With a flourish, he swung his blade an entire three hundred sixty degrees and slashed Orion's robotic hand.

Orion roared in pain and retracted it. With his other hand, he drew a celestial bronze dagger which crackled with electricity. He made an uppercut and he dodged it.

"Anavosvíno!" She shouted and Percy felt a pulling sensation in his legs. The last thing he saw was Orion's eyes flashing red and his bellow of anger before he was swallowed by darkness.


	10. Darkness II

Chapter 10: Darkness II

"Keep walking!" Hecate hissed. "They're watching us! No, don't look around, you'll draw attention." She sighed in exasperation, forcefully turning Percy's head around.

"Where are we going?" Percy asked.

"Somewhere they can't find us..." She left it at that, not elaborating further.

Percy decided following Hecate was better, since she had saved his life twice, and she seemed to know what she was doing. She had magically changed their clothes to blend into the crowd. He was now wearing a grey t shirt with a jacket and hoodie plus a pair of denim jeans. Hecate wore a purple dress with gold trimmings dotted with small bits of rubies. Percy was not sure if those were real or fake.

Finally, the duo reached a house at the end of the street. It was quite run down, with wooden planks as walls and a door broken on its hinges. It make a groaning creak as Hecate swung if open. She stepped inside and Percy followed, shutting the door behind them.

Hecate snapped her fingers and the fluorescent lights on the walls lit up, casting a white-blue glow on the room, which turned out to be a simple table and chairs. The room smelled musty.

"Where's this place?"

"You mortals call it a safe house. The monsters cannot reach us here." Hecate took a seat and gestured for Percy to do the same.

"So...are you with Olympus, or against?" Percy questioned.

"Neither," she answered simply, "I have no love for either side. I will sit and watch this battle unfold. The Giants know I killed Mimas and helped you escape Orion, hence I am, of course, hunted by him just as much as you are."

"But do you know their plans?" Percy said eagerly.

"Yes, I do. But-" she held up a hand to silence Percy's oncoming request, "I see no reason to divulge it to you either. You have not done anything to deserve my help."

Percy winced slightly, remembering the Titan war. He recalled seeing some rogue demigods casting spells on the backlines, creating Mist and throwing comets of fire and ice. What had happened to them, only now did he wonder.

"I'm sorry," Percy muttered. Hecate's stoic expression softened slightly. She sighed, "Fine, I will give you one piece of information. The Giants are planning to unleash Tartarus' monsters."

"Thank you," he said gratefully, though the piece of information horrified him. He would have to figure out how to stop that from happening. Hecate shrugged. "Your girlfriend helped me, after all."

Percy looked confused. "Girlfriend? Since when did Annabeth help you?"

Hecate made a sudden noise Percy only realised it as laughter. "I was talking about Hestia. She has helped me more than once."

The room suddenly felt warmer than usual. Percy could feel his face heating up. "She's not - my - my girlfriend." He spluttered out, like something had caught in his throat.

"No? Love is a kind of magic, Perseus," Hecate smiled knowingly. "And magic is a strange and illogical thing."

Percy thought about that, and suddenly froze. Poseidon was possessed when he entered Percy's dream, and Percy gave that seashell to Hestia. What if...

Blood drained from his face.

_Oh Hades, no._

* * *

Hestia couldn't look - no, she didn't want to look - at what lay before her eyes, the thing so horrible and monstrous, unbelievably hideous and foul. She could smell the stench of what smelled like rotten meat, its hot breath making her hairs on her skin repulse. She choked, her eyes watering.

When Tityos entered the prison that Clytius told her she was in, her eyes screamed to be burnt from their sockets. The Giant was ten feet tall, short for a normal Giant, but taller than the average god or mortal. His body bulged with muscles and fat, and veins wrapped around them like a living web. He wore nothing but a loincloth, and where his liver was held a gaping hole that ichor still poured out from. His pockmarked face was the most ugly thing she had ever seen, with no nose, wild eyes, and a mouth that had a cut running from the upper lip to the chin in a symmetrical fashion.

_How could the gods create this?_

"You like Tityos? He had a rather sad story I would love to share." Clytius said rather morosely, and the giant roared at the mention of his name.

"You see, when he was born, Zeus hid his mother, Elara in the earth, but Tityos here grew so large due to the corruptive magic of Gaia, and ah, to put this lightly, gruesomely caused the death of his mother. He was used and deceived by the goddess Hera to capture the Titan Leto, and slain by Apollo and Artemis. And his punishment? For being tricked by Hera? Much like Prometheus' sentence, he was stretched over the Pit, and two vultures fed on his liver, everyday."

In reaction to this, Tityos made a wail that was filled with a mix of melancholy and rage. Clytius stroked the head of him as though he were a small child. "We released him, of course. And he will take great pleasure in ripping Hera, Artemis and Apollo apart. We immortals do bear grudges. All. Of. Us." He whispered the last part.

"Why are you telling me this?" Hestia cried, shutting her eyes from the almost pitiful Giant.

"To tell you that you gods are not perfect. You act like you are, but when in reality, you are no more than foul creatures like Tityos here, but you just have good looks." Clytius made a sound of disgust, and spat on Hestia, before turning on his heel and strutting out of the cell Hestia was in, his shadow cape billowing behind him.

"Tityos here will guard you, in case you try to do anything funny. But then again, you probably won't know where to find help. Olympus is closed, and you don't know where you are." He turned back to face her, and his helmet melted like molten lava and disappeared into darkness, revealing a cold, eyeless face with empty sockets where said eyes would be, and twisted features. He smiled, a horrid grin, before he morphed into shadow.

She felt the voice before it spoke, "I'm coming back tomorrow. Sweet dreams, goddess."

* * *

Percy ran, like he had never ran faster in his life, faster than when he was running away from monsters or bullies, praying in his mind: _Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe._

When he reached the camp where he had left Hestia, he only saw the sleeping bags and the hearth which was now reduced to cinders. There was no sign of a struggle or fight.

But Percy did see something that made his vision red.

Right in the centre of the camp lay the seashell Poseidon had gave him, and it was still glowing. Rage boiled inside him. He drew Riptide, and with a yell of raw fury, smashed the seashell into pieces with the hilt of the blade. He didn't know who he was mad at: mad at Poseidon for tricking him, mad at Aphrodite for charmspeaking the gods, mad at the impending war, mad at himself for letting his guard down, mad at Hestia for making him care.

He didn't stop crushing it until the seashell was reduced to dust. He smelled the soft and familiar scent of the seashell, but it smelled different, like something had been added to the scent and changed it, and he didn't like the change. It no longer reminded him of the sea, of good times in his life. Annoyance flared in his mind before he doused it. It wasn't any use to be furious now.

He knew what to do, and that was to find Hestia, but he didn't know where to begin, his mind a clean blank of ideas. No clues had been left behind. He clenched his fist tightly.

 _Calm down,_ he told himself,  _you can't think if you're mad._

Suddenly, Percy felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick. He tensed. Someone was watching him, and he was pretty sure who.

Using Riptide, he deflected the oncoming arrow aimed at his chest and with a shout, blasted water back at his assailant: the Giant Orion.

He saw something move in the shadows of the trees where he had shot water at.

"I know you're there, Orion!" He yelled. "Come out!"

He heard the sound of clapping, but it sounded different, like the hands were not made of flesh but of something more solid and rough. Metal.

"Very impressive, Perseus Jackson. You've become much more aware than our last encounter. A pity those improved skills will serve you no use in your last few minutes of your life." Orion dropped to the ground with silently and gracefully, contrary to what Percy thought would be a loud thud. He was a very skilled hunter, Orion.

"You know, every time someone said that to me, I still live. It's getting kinda old, if you ask me." Percy casually replied, but his eyes glinted with hardness and the experience of a veteran warrior, fighter and demigod.

Orion snorted. "I doubt so. You see this?" He raised his right hand. "You decapitated it the last time we met. Now, look at it. It's already repaired. Do you know why?"

"You had an on-call repairman?"

Orion threw his head back and laughed. "No, it is because you had no god to aid you. And now..." He drew his bowstring back, an arrow already magically or technologically nocked, "there  _is_ no god to aid you."

Sweat dripped down Percy's forehead. What Orion said was true, there was no god to help him now, especially after he raced back here leaving Hecate behind. He winced slightly thinking about how he left without a second word.

"My skills of a hunter for eternity versus your skills of a swordsman for...four years. As I've said before, you are quite unintelligent, aren't you?"

Percy remained silent, his eyes sweeping his surroundings. He could feel some water beneath him, and there were a lot of trees around if he managed to get out of the clearing his was in now. He gripped Riptide tighter.

Time slowed as Orion drew and fired his bow with astounding speed, leaving Percy barely enough time to parry it and run to the trees. Much to his horror, he realised Orion had already nocked a second arrow.

The arrow missed him by half an inch just as he ducked behind an oak. He heard Orion guffaw. "I am a hunter, child. Do not think those trees will protect you."

"Then come and get me!" Percy taunted, before running into more foliage, hoping to put as much distance between them as possible. Orion gave a growl before he gave chase. Percy looked up at the tall trees. Maybe he could climb them, but he was sure that Orion was a much better climber. He was more confident in his running than tree climbing skills.

Suddenly, pain flared in his left heel. He looked back and saw an arrow sprouting from there. He gave a yell of pain and fell down.

_No...not like this..._

His vision darkened as agony spread from his leg. He heard the rustling of leaves and footsteps as Orion drew closer. He could almost imagine the grin of triumph the Giant had.

"Well fought, Jackon. But no one ever escapes The Eternal Hunter."


	11. Breathless

Chapter 11: Breathless

Percy had never known what it was like to look death in the eye. Since he was twelve, he'd always been told most demigods never survived past their teenager years, but he managed to survive his quests and the Titan War, and every time he'd been captured, or outmatched, he always had an out, whether planned or unplanned, whether it was his quick thinking or his reactions, whether it was him or her.

He almost chuckled despite his situation. Even though he lay on the ground, an arrow plunged into his ankle and spots dancing in his eyes from the pain, it was almost as the fire burning in his injury opened his eyes.

 _Annabeth_ , he thought.

He wasn't sure what to call her anymore. His girlfriend? Not exactly when he had feelings towards someone else. His friend? She had been controlled by Aphrodite through her jealousy and attempted to murder Hestia, so maybe not. Regardless, their adventures together since they were twelve couldn't simply be thrown away like trash.

 _So many close calls,_ he realized,  _and each time it was either me, you or someone else saving our lives..._

And now he would die unknown and unnoticed.

No more close calls. No more people coming in at the last second and blocking the arrow that was nocked, aimed towards his heart, an inch away. No one to save him now.

It almost felt peaceful. Everything seemed to fall silent, the leaves stopped rustling, the birds stopped chirping, the wind stopped whispering, his ears only seeming to focus on the zap of the electrical bowstring and the hiss of the arrow.

He wondered how it would be like when he visited the Underworld as a ghost and not an intruder like the last time. Would he go Elysium? He didn't think himself worthy of that. Asphodel seemed like the most likely choice, and Punishment...

He definitely was not the greatest demigod to live. He made mistakes. He had his flaws. He was sure he hurt his friends before.

"Any last words, Perseus?" Orion spoke.

Percy met the Giant's gaze of the flashlights that fell upon his eyes.

"No," he replied.

He thought he saw a flash of disappointment on Orion's face. Maybe he expected him to give a long monologue on his achievements or a promise to hunt him down when he was a ghost in the underworld. But Percy didn't feel like giving Orion that satisfaction.

He closed his eyes for the last time.

The bowstring drew taut. The arrow nocked with a electric zap and the arrow flew.

It pierced his heart straight on.

Perseus Jackson breathed no more.

* * *

Hestia awoke with a start, gasping in pain. She clutched her chest, where agony flared like a sword had pierced it. Something was wrong. Desperation grasped her heart like a bony hand.

She glanced over at her Giant warden. Much to her delight, Tityos was fast asleep. Figures, she thought, he was young for a Giant, almost like an infant, scaled up to massive size.

She slowly got to her feet. Fortunately, Clytius hadn't chained or blinded her limbs. Walking over cautiously to the exit in the dark cell, she put her arms forward like a blind person. Soon, her arms met with an invisible barrier. She pounded on it frantically, hoping for some sort of miracle sent from Olympus, but to no avail.

Hestia, in melancholy and anxiety, dropped to the ground, tears glimmering at the edge of her eyes, threatening to pour. She knew something was wrong, her heart hurting sharply. She never had this feeling before, it felt unknown to her, but she was certain it was not good. She banged the barrier weakly, wailing for help though her throat was raw with screaming the few hours earlier.

"Please..." She croaked, the agony too much to bear. It burned her insides like tongues of fire, searing her organs and bones. She didn't want to feel this anymore. What she felt was something she never experienced before. Worse than when she saw her father Kronos devour her, worse than seeing her family torn apart by spite and jealousy.

Just before she thought she was about to perish from the fiery blade in her chest, her eyes rolled up in her head and she lapsed into merciful unconsciousness.

Merciful because the goddess could no longer tolerate it, but more merciful because soon the sinister creatures in the Giants' fortress would celebrate and revel in the joy of their victory. Even their leaders and masters, the Giants themselves, would celebrate the occasion. What that had stood between their way of their conquest had been eliminated.

The great hero Percy Jackson was dead.

Soon Clytius would arrive at Hestia's cell and tell her of the news. He would then release her, to tell the demigods, so as to spread fear. The demigods would scour a five mile radius, relentlessly searching for him. They would soon find his body, an arrow sprouted from his chest, the blood already dried up to a husk of maroon. The search party would bring him back and the camp would burn a funeral pyre for the hero. Tears would be shed and faces would be forlorn. Even the leaderless Hunters Of Artemis would return to pay their respects to him. Thailia would be the most affected, while the rest would indeed be fearful of the enemy that had finally done the impossible - to kill Percy Jackson. Maybe they would even recognize the arrow as one of the enemy's: Orion.

Sally Jackson and Paul Blofis would receive the news and be brought into the camp - the first mortals to enter Camp Half-blood since May Castellan. They would stand numbly, unable to grasp the situation. Sally would sob uncontrollably into Paul's shoulder as Paul would stand as still as a statue facing the burning shroud. Their son and stepson was dead.

The achievements of Percy rivaled not even the greatest of heroes in Greek Mythology. He had accomplished much, both for mortals and immortals. Everyone had a reason to mourn whether him being a close friend, like Grover, or a half-brother; Tyson, or someone that admired him; the Stoll brothers.

And then when the three days of mourning were gone, a council would be held on how to deal with the aftermath: how he was murdered and by whom: his friends would send prayers to their godly parents but receive no reply, for Olympus still remained closed. Whatever hope the demigods had that their parents would answer would vanish in an instant.

But the two people that cared the most for him would lock themselves in solitude and cry themselves to sleep. They would mourn like a person would fast, refusing to eat nor drink. Tears would stain their clothing and their eyes would be raw, unable to accept the death of the person they loved.

_Hestia...Annabeth..._

_You have been through much with Perseus, and you knew him like no one else, and now he has left you when you needed him the most..._

_For your love for him was great._

_But for one, he no longer returns that love, and the other, he is too afraid to return that love._

_But now...he can no longer love you._


	12. Calm Before The Storm

Chapter 12: Calm Before The Storm

Hestia sat on the guest bed numbly. Tissues were strewn all around it and the pillows were stained with tears. Her eyes were raw. She stared at the flickering torch on the wall for what felt like an eternity. Somehow, the activity seemed more engaging than anything else in her life.

The last few days had been a blur, a long stretch of time that seemed to never end, unfortunately; like a rubber band being stretched, its skin distorted and blurred to the point of unrecognition.

She didn't want to recount it, it would only bring back pain and more tears. But her mind had other plans. Flashes of memory echoed like voices. Clytius releasing and teleporting here, the initial shock but quick recovery of the campers when she appeared. And the faces of them, and Percy's parents when the news was broken to them...she would never forget their disbelief etched onto their expressions.

The funeral pyre...the mourning and forlorn faces...the flames of the campfire that spluttered weakly...

She picked up another tissue.

But the worst thing was the laugh. The clear and cold laugh that resonated in her mind, followed by what felt like a chilling gale, when she was released by Clytius. She knew the spirit of Aphrodite had left her. But while one thing left, one thing remained. Questions.

Too many of them to even comprehend. Why did Clytius release her? Why did Aphrodite leave? And most of all, why wasn't she possessed by the goddess of love again when she left that campfire in the woods. She didn't understand. What were the Giants planning?

The answers of the questions seemed to be on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't form them, as though they were like a distant island covered by fog and storms, but faintly and somewhat visible. Deep down, she knew it was there, but could barely make it out.

More memories flooded her unexpectedly. Rain. Rain pouring at midnight, extinguishing the fire of the pyre, in spite of the supposedly controlled weather within the camp boundaries. Somehow, she thought that was an insult to her by the Fates, the fire being killed.

Chiron had told her to rest at one of the guest rooms in the Big House before galloping off, wiping more tears away. Or maybe that was the rain. She didn't know. She didn't want to know. Hades, she didn't want to know or feel anything anymore. Her mind was whirling with unknown emotions that she couldn't seem to place. It could have been sadness, for she was crying, but that wasn't it. It could have been anger, but her fists weren't clenched, but she never felt this rage towards someone. Anyone. Someone to vent it on. But she wasn't sure if the desire to vent this emotion was anger. It was...so confusing.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Expecting it to be Chiron, she weakly called, "Come in." To her surprise, it turned out to be the demigod Annabeth Chase.

Hestia flinched slightly at the memory of her throwing that dagger at her stomach. The wound stung at the thought.

She could see that Annabeth was no better than her current state. Her eyes were raw and bloodshot, her blonde hair unkempt and messy, tear stains evident on the hem of her camp t-shirt.

"Hi," the demigod said awkwardly. Hestia inclined her head slightly, the conversation then lapsing into an uncomfortable silence, before Annabeth picked it up.

"Look, I'm not sure where you're from. I'm not sure who you are. But I've seen you before, and it's been a rough week for me, so for once I'd like to have an answer to my questions."

Hestia pursed her lips. "Very well. What do you want to know?"

Annabeth took a deep breath before rattling off, "Who are you? Why did I see you run off with my boyfriend? Why am I the only one that recognises you but everyone doesn't know who you are?"

Hestia plopped back on the bed, rubbing her head. "First of all, my name is Aelia Hawthorn. If you remember correctly, a demigod appeared randomly about a week ago , claiming to be of the same name and further confirmed by the gods to be a mortal form of Aphrodite before they went silent. But they were wrong. Aelia Hawthorn is the host of two goddesses, Aphrodite and Hestia."

"Currently, it is Hestia that you are speaking to. When Aelia first appeared to camp half blood, everyone fell under her spell of love." She recounted what Percy had told her before they left camp, a subject she was about to touch on, quite unwillingly. She continued, "Even you, Annabeth. Only one demigod was not affected, and that was Perseus Jackson."

The name shadowed both of their faces like a storm cloud. A drizzle formed in Annabeth's eyes.

"I will be blunt, Annabeth. While you were under Aphrodite's magic, you became jealous of Percy and me. Jealousy led to spite. Spite led to hate. In the end, you injured me and Percy was a friend of mine. He realised he could not help you to fight Aphrodite's inflamed resentment you had developed for me. As such, Percy and I ran away." Her thoughts jumped to when Percy had kissed her on the cheek. "He went to find something for me - he didn't tell me what it was."

"Afterwards, I was captured by the Giants and then Percy was..." Hestia's eyes became misty. Words failed her. "I'm sorry...I can't..." Her throat felt like it was being strangled.

To her surprise and slight relief, Annabeth's stormy grey eyes held no sign of anger or rage, but emotion.

"Please...continue." Annabeth softly said.

Hestia swallowed. "The Giants told me of Percy's death, and then they used me as a harbinger of the news. They released me, and here I am. Aphrodite's spirit left me as I was released. So everyone in camp sees Hestia's form while they previously saw me as Aphrodite, but only you have seen both." She finished.

Silence trailed her words for a moment before Annabeth spoke. "Thank you, for telling me." She rubbed her eyes with her shirt again before sitting on the guest bed opposite of Hestia so that they faced each other.

"I don't remember much of what had happened last week, but I supposed I didn't leave Percy a good impression of me, did I?" She laughed hollowly.

"You were his loved one, I'm sure his impression of you did not change whatsoever." Hestia offered.

Annabeth sat in silence for a long while before she said, "I know about the war with the Giants. Clytius appeared to me and told me that Percy had been captured by the Giants, and if I wanted him back, I had to join them. Judging by your story, he was never captured by them, and that was what I thought. He never did get captured before. He always managed to slip away. But Clytius left me with a message that still chills me. You have no idea what you have just done. And now I'm thinking...what if I had accepted? At least he would be alive."

Hestia shook her head. "No, Percy would never want that."

Annabeth sighed and buried her face in her arms, before asking curiously, "What was Percy finding?"

She shrugged in reply. "He didn't tell me."

Annabeth's eyes suddenly lit up. "Were you two close?"

Hestia felt her cheeks burn. "Um...yes, but not like that-"

The demigod cut her off, a thought forming in her mind. "If you were close to him, and he didn't tell you what he was finding...then he would be finding something for you." She seemed to be speaking more to herself. "And the only thing you would need was..."

Annabeth's face lit up. "Oh my gods. I know what we have to do now."

"What?" But Annabeth was already dragging Hestia to the door.

"I'll explain on the way, but if all goes right, Percy will come back. Alive."

* * *

The gold sword shattered against the stone creature. The god grunted and pulled his shield back, shaking his hand in annoyance. That had been one of his favourite blades. He thrust his hand forward and a club tipped with metal spikes appeared in his hand. He blocked the punch from the golem and smashed the monster. The golem made a low groan before it dissolved into dust and became one with the sand.

But where one was destroyed, two replaced it. More golems melted from the granite walls and joined the fight, some wielding swords made from iron and rock, some mutated to have spikes jutting from their skin.

The god's eyes widened. This was too much for him to handle. What was a gleeful desire for war now became fear, a concept he had never understood before. The golems surrounded him, but they didn't seem to want to attack, as though they were waiting for someone.

A laugh enriched with glee filled the cavern like smoke filling a chimney. A high pitched, female giggle that was comparable to a girl, yet the god felt that the reason for the female's elation was of malice.

At the sound of the laugh, the golems disappeared into pink puffs. The eyes of the god hardened in anger.

"I knew it," Ares said, half triumphant with his confirmed suspicions and half horrified with the betrayal she had posed.

"Of course you did, my dear," Aphrodite purred. The goddess of love appeared before him, wielding a staff tipped with a gem that glowed between pink and blood red. Her eyes wer illuminated with the same hue of pink, almost like a feline.

"You cannot do this!" Ares roared.

Aphrodite's eyes glowed with amusement. "And you say you have not done this before?"

Ares flinched, at a loss of words. He opened his mouth to defend himself, but his mind was blank. He closed it for a moment. "Just..." He said, "give me back my children."

She sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. "I would love to, but unfortunately, that is not my decision to make. If you want to strike a bargain, you're going to have to take it up with her."

"Who?"

She smiled a smile that definitely was not friendly. Ares felt a chill in his spine. "Come on, I'll take you to the lady in charge."


	13. Shattered

Chapter 13: Shattered

Percy thought he had seen long queues at Macy's on Black Friday, but it was nothing compared to the waiting line in the underworld.

As he stood on a hill where he had initially appeared when he entered, five feet from the summit and slowly shuffling forward, courtesy of the five or so people that were queuing, he had a lot of time to think.

Not to say he had a lot of thoughts clouding his head; quite the contrary rather, he only thought about what he had left behind. His mom, his stepdad, Poseidon, his friends at Camp Half-blood, Tyson, Grover, Annabeth...Hestia.

He could not suppress a sigh escaping his lips. So many things, he thought, so many things to tell you, and I can't. Regret hardened around his heart like concrete. When should he have told her the things he wanted to tell? When should he have opened his mouth to speak his heart and truth? Why didn't he have the courage to pour his soul out for her?

Those questions surrounded Percy. He thought he heard voices repeatedly echoing them into his head. He knew a thing or two about unknown voices whispering into his mind, but the voices sounded like his friends and family. They sounded melancholy, lamenting of what could have been. Though he knew it was almost impossible for someone like Hestia, chaste and uncapable of romance, to love him, he just wanted to say, all these things, he wanted...to say.

And what of now?

Percy Jackson felt wetness drip from the sides of his cheek. For a second, he felt human again, breathing and living flesh and blood, with a beating heart. Then it faded into the void of despair.

No more.

* * *

It will work.

Annabeth had been chanting those three words inside her head like a mantra for the past half an hour. She had connected the dots. The fennel stalk would bring Percy back. She wasn't sure how, but she knew Hestia and Percy were close. It would most definitely have some effect.

She was skilled at analysing facial expressions, an ability a child of Athena should possess. She recognised Hestia's as embarrassment, slight fear, but also an expression that Annabeth thought she would never see on the goddess of the hearth.

When she had discovered Hestia's secret through this, Annabeth was slightly mortified. Hestia falling in love? What in the name of Hades was this? Nevertheless, she put that thought at the back of her mind, likely because Hestia did not look like she wanted to discuss her feelings, and also because they both had a more pressing matter on their hands.

At first reaction, Annabeth was not particularly infuriated about this, like how other mortal girls would react if they found out their boyfriend had a second lover, nor did she spite Hestia. Percy's and her adventures together taught her that much. However, she did want to talk to him. She may have been forgiving towards Percy in her discovery, but at the very least, she deserved that much.

Annabeth pushed those thoughts aside. That would have to wait, she told herself. She had been watching Hestia for the past few minutes who was holding the fennel stalk in her fingers delicately. Jets of fire issued from her fingertips. Her eyes were molten gold.

A yellow light, like the light at dawn, enveloped Hestia. She rose into the air, hovering three feet above the ground, almost touching the ceiling of Annabeth's room. Annabeth unconsciously backed away, eyes widened.

Then, in a voice as clear as a mountain stream, melodious as a harp and resonant like ripples in a river, Hestia said, "Yes, I see Perseus." Her voice did not seem to be Hestia speaking those words, like someone else were controlling it, for the voice held no emotion at the name. However, Annabeth was confident that the outsider was not hostile.

"Where?" Annabeth said, unable to control her excitement. "Can you bring him back? Isn't that what the prophecy decreed?"

Hestia's head turned to face Athena's child, face completely void of emotion. "I miss one last piece to resurrect Perseus Jackson."

"What? What is it?" Annabeth's voice was tinged with desperation.

"An immortal is required to complete the process, to trade his or her life for Perseus'."

* * *

Ares was not sure which was scarier: the fact that Aphrodite had not shown any signs of wanting to suppress him, or the beating heart.

So far, she had not bothered to handcuff or chain him, so he probably could not escape from the unlit cavern. Or maybe they were confident he would not anticipate an escape. The Giants were cunning, despite their size. One would expect a crafty being would be agile and lean, but the Giants were living proof that size was no factor in intelligence. Though he hated to admit it, the Giants were in fact more intelligent than the gods. The Giants could simply be playing games with his mind. After all, reverse psychology won wars. From the famed Chinese General Zhu Ge Liang - who was amusingly, not the son of Athena, to the battle of Paraxillia in 200 B.C, human and godly minds were equally susceptible to this simple yet brilliant concept.

He scanned the cavern. It was darker than death itself. He felt a mix of granite and celestial bronze when he walked. Shards of the godly metal cut his unprotected feet but he felt no more than a throb. He assumed that he was in a celestial bronze mine, one of the last remaining few found on this planet. That would mean he was somewhere in Africa.

Another beat from the heart in front of him brought his gaze upon it.

To say the least, it was disgusting. It was made from a crude mixture of celestial bronze, mud, coal and a plethora of rocks and minerals. Tendrils of vines and roots coiled around it, and with every beat, an earthen vein burst, mud pouring from the punctured vine. It groaned and belched slime and mud. Water coated the roots, which made its appearance as a sticky, repulsive...thing. It was about the size of himself, and inside he saw something glowing, easy to make out as it was the only source of light in the mine.

And Ares thought mutilated corpses were gross.

The smell was no better. A musty smell hung in the air: a pungent odour of fresh soil and manure and rusty metal and everything that smelled horrible in this world. Ares took a glance at Aphrodite, expecting her to be equally disgusted. How could the goddess of beauty tolerate something so hideous?

To his surprise, the goddess displayed no signs of repulse nor made any movements to distance herself from that thing. Her eyes were as clear as shattered glass, which shocked Ares all the more. Any living organism that was possessed would usually show some sign of possession: a change of colour in the eyes, a mark or brand on the skin, but no. Aphrodite was acting on her own thoughts. In other words, she wanted this.

She wanted his children to be captured. She wanted Olympus to fall. She wanted to see the Giants rise, and the world destroyed.

Rage boiled in his gut. Despite his past experiences with her, Ares wanted nothing more but to hurt her. No, kill her. For capturing his children, for raising the Giants and sparking the second Gigantomachy.

"Glorious, isn't she?" Aphrodite smirked.

"She?" Ares said. "Who is she?" But he knew the answer. It terrified him.

"Why, Gaia of course. She has waited for centuries, and now, she rises." Aphrodite's eyes glinted like blood-red rubies as she laid her eyes upon the rotten pile of earth and corroded metals. Ares had never seen such clarity in Aphrodite.

"I don't care about that. I just want my children back." Ares growled.

She sighed. "Ever the ruiner of fun, Ares. Where was the fun Ares, the one that laughed as he fought, trampled over mortals with his chariot-"

"That Ares was in the past! Now, you see the side of me that will brutalise your face the first chance I get, so give me my children!" Ares balled his hands into fists.

"You'll have to ask her then." Aphrodite gestured at the heart, smiling. "Go on, ask her."

Ares stepped forward. "Where's my children?" He shouted at the heart. "Give them to me you monster!"

"Oh dear," Aphrodite said, holding her hand to her mouth in mock surprise, "you should be more respectful-"

She was interrupted by earthen tendrils that burst from the ground and wrapped them around Ares. Ares did not even have time to shout before they dragged him into the ground, leaving no trace of the war god.

"Well, that's one down." Aphrodite spoke, looking at the floor where Ares had been. She looked at the heart. She could see a motherly face etched in the heart that looked back at her. "Who's next?"

* * *

Percy stood in front of the judges. His eyes wandered everywhere except for the golden masks that eyed him with no expression. He wondered who was on the council, Annabeth and Grover had told him that they were either the kings of Ancient Greece or famous people.

He didn't like the golden masks. They were intimidating and slightly disturbing to him.

"Perseus Jackson," one of the judges finally said in a masculine voice, waving his hand. At the end of the table where the three judges sat, midway between the cliff that separated the judges and Percy, a swirling mass of magic appeared. It then formed a projection of a scene: Percy's birth. He saw his mom wrap him in swaddling clothes, while Poseidon stood beside her, eyes glowing with pride.

The scene shifted, reforming into distorted memories of his childhood: him riding a bicycle, meeting Gabe Ugliano and the few years that followed of him living in his place. Percy looked away, not wanting to see that part of his life.

Changing again, it now showed Percy his battle against the Fury which had been his substitute math teacher, Mrs. Dodds. It quickly shifted and became Percy fighting the Minotaur. Percy saw himself, a twelve year old, stab the Minotaur with its own horn.

The next few memories moved rather quickly, showing all his adventures: his journey to the underworld, entering the sea of monsters, fighting the Titan Atlas, defending camp from Luke's invasion, and finally, battling the Titan of time, Kronos himself.

"Needless to say, Perseus, you have been quite the hero." The second judge, a woman, said. Percy turned to face her, though his eyes twitched as he saw the three golden masks loom on him like suns. The light from the magma reflecting off them didn't help either.

"However..." The projection shifted into one last scene.

Percy saw himself staring at the sleeping form of Hestia. Percy remembered this. How could he forget? It was one of his most treasured recollections, yet Percy didn't want to see this. It represented everything he had given up. He tore his eyes away from the scene, unable to watch it any further.

As he did so, the projection deformed and shortly after, disappeared. The three judges turned back to face the demigod. A silence followed, as though even the judges were shocked, even though they probably had already seen this before.

"That may have been your most brazen transgression and crime yet, Perseus." The first spoke.

Percy opened his mouth to defend himself, but the third said, "We are not talking about your affection for the goddess Hestia, but the fact that you managed to make her love you."

Stunned, Percy looked up in shock, in spite of the masks.

_Hestia? Love me?_

"Yes, she does love you," the second said, as though she had read his thoughts. "And because of this, we are in a dilemma with the decision of your fate."

"Being a noble and loyal hero and friend, respectively," the third said, "you would of course be sent to Elysium, but the fact you have destroyed the raw, most inner personality of Hestia, her chastity, you should be sent to Punishment, for corrupting her nature."

"You're wrong." Percy spoke loudly, looking at the three judges dead in the eye with hate. The judges inclined their heads.

"Wrong?" They chorused. "Where have we made a mistake?"

"Hestia's personality, or identity, was not her chastity. It was her kindness, her compassion, her love. And whether she changes or not is not up to you, or the centuries of Greek civilisation to decide."

"You speak out against us?" The first raised his voice in evident hostility.

"Yeah." Percy wasn't sure where this courage was coming from. A part of him warned him that these were the people that could potentially give him a punishment worse than all the infamous Greek figures in mythology, but he didn't care. They were insulting Hestia, insulting her life and existence.

"You realise we hold more power than you?" The second asked aggressively.

"Yeah, I do." Percy's courage was faltering. What had he done?

The three judges stood up in unison.  _This is it,_ he thought.  _They're going to send me to the Fields._

And Percy heard rumbling. Rocks. The noise was coming from above.

Suddenly, the rocks acting as the sky in the underworld groaned as they broke apart. Jagged stalactites fell like javelins. Shards of rock rained down upon the surface. In another explosion, the rocks shattered. Molten lava spilled onto the ground, no longer contained by its granite wardens. It experienced its first taste of freedom, hissing and laughing as it poured down. The entire cavern quaked.

And the sky of the Underworld caved in upon its inhabitants.


	14. Revelations

Chapter 14: Revelations

A silence hung in the air.

"Scritch." The rocks scraped each other as they were pushed aside. A young demigod soul pulled himself out from the rubble. He laid there on the solid underworld floor for a while before getting to his feet. He climbed the rocks that buried the ground like hailstones and scanned the vicinity.

The sky was purple and red, noxious gases seeping from above where the ceiling had collapsed. He saw, in the horizon, things moving towards him. Figures cloaked by the fumes. They seemed to be carrying weapons. He heard shoutings from behind him. He turned around.

Another dispatch of the same troops were coming towards his direction. A figure was pointing at him and seemed to be issuing a command. They were coming for him, whatever they were.

Cursing, he climbed down and rummaged his pockets, bringing out a pen glowing bronze from the magma pools close by. He clicked it, and a blade sprouted from it in a fraction of a second.

He heard footsteps. He ducked behind a rock, peeking out slowly from it.

Skeleton warriors, brandishing swords and shields of bone. Their heads turned around independtly from their bodies, scanning a full three hundred and sixty degrees of the area. They didn't seem to be detect him.  _Good,_  the demigod thought.

Suddenly, a voice behind him, and from above, screeched, "I found him!"

Immediately, he leaped from behind the rock and, for the first time in days, found himself yet again fighting. Except that the skeletons were not fighting him. They made no movements of hostility. He stopped, as did the skeletons.

A familiar voice spoke, "Ah, there you are, Perseus."

Percy turned. "Uncle?"

Hades smiled, but his smile was more of a grimace. "I'm glad you survived. We need to talk. Now."

* * *

"I was quite surprised you had died," Hades stated, "the Giants were throwing quite a party in Tartarus."

The two of them sat on debris while skeleton warriors guarded them, keeping a watchful eye on anything that moved in the silent underworld. The three Furies, one of which had been the one who had compromised Percy's position, circled overhead.

Percy looked at his uncle. He looked tired. The bags under his eyes and the wrinkles in his aged face were testament to that. His Olympian crown of studded rubies and other jewels rested on his forehead, but the enchanted precious materials beat faintly, as though it were a representation of Hades' mood.

"You're still controlling Tartarus?" Percy asked. "I would have thought that with all that was going on, Tartarus would be shut off."

Hades let out an unsteady laugh. "That's true. The primordial spirit of Tartarus has reclaimed his body, and thus lessened my control on that part of the underworld. But the Giants were rather loud with their celebrations."

"Tartarus has risen?" Percy said incredulously. The situation was getting worse and worse. "Do the other gods know?"

Hades fixated his onyx eyes on Percy's, and said, "No, they don't. This, however," he waved his hand around, "word will reach Olympus soon enough. Spirits that were already inside here and killed by falling debris...I'm not sure what happened to them. It seemed like they just disappeared. Newly deceased spirits will not be able to enter here, it seems. The gateways to here were all blocked, and I suspect not from the rocks. No, something more sinister has ostracised the Underworld from the mortal world."

"Tartarus." Percy breathed. The name sounded poisonous in his tongue.

Hades nodded. "I understand the Giants' plan now. They want to destroy the underworld. Mortal souls that die will enter their own, and my assumption is that they will go to wherever these souls went." He pointed at the ground, as though there was a soul crushed by the five hundred ton rock.

Just when Percy was about to say something, a shadow materialised beside the two. Before Percy even knew who he or she was, his blade was drawn, as were the weapons of the creatures nearby.

"Woah, calm down." Nico di Angelo raised his arms in surrender. Percy let loose a sigh of relief.

"Nico," Percy said, "glad to see you."

The son of Hades nodded his head in a silent greeting and then turned to face his father.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, before Hades rushed forward and hugged his son, which was most unlikely of the god of the Underworld. Nico seemed stunned at first, but returned the embrace with equal warmth. Percy turned away in both awkwardness and longing.

_In this dangerous time where anyone could die, anytime...seems like some people just want to show their feelings, before they leave forever._

* * *

"So let's do a recap." Hestia said, rubbing her temples in exhaustion as she sat on Annabeth's bunk bed, while said demigod was pacing around the room in a frenzy. "We need a god to trade his or her life for Percy's, and according to the prophecy, I have to save Olympus in 10 days, now being the 10th, and Percy will choose whether to save me or not."

She added that up mentally, recalling the rapid explanation Annabeth had given her on the prophecy before handing her the fennel stalk, which she still clutched in her hand after she exited her trance.

"Yeah," Annabeth said, "sounds about right."

The two of them met each other's eyes, and Hestia had a feeling Annabeth knew what that was implying. A god or goddess had to trade a life, and so conveniently, Percy could choose whether to save her or not. Obviously, Percy would never let anyone he cared about die, so that would mean it would come with a price.

Disturbingly, Hestia felt that the price was something that could not be paid.

"But still..." Hestia swallowed her fear. "There's been no ritual of resurrection that demanded the life of a god for a mortal. If so, how many heroes in history would have done it? It just doesn't feel natural."

"This world isn't natural anymore. Can't you feel it?" Annabeth spoke with a brutal truthfulness. "Olympus is silent, an Olympian has betrayed us, the Giants have risen...it's not the same anymore. Corners have to be cut."

Annabeth was right. The world didn't feel the same. Physically, it did. There was no mass desecration of cities, no crumbling of mountains or rising of seas, but the earth thrummed with fervour, a fervour for bloodshed. Hestia could feel it. Nature was fighting itself.

"Even so...how can we ask a god to sacrifice himself or herself for Percy?" Hestia asked. The prospect seemed insane.

Would she trade her life? Percy would do it for her, but sacrificing her eternal life for his mortal life of a rough seventy years...Hestia felt unsure.

"Who said it had to be a god?" Annabeth replied.

* * *

_Sleep._

_Your exhaustion overwhelms you._

_Fatigue numbs your mind._

_Tiredness controls your body._

"No." A more familiar voice resonates clearly in his head. His own voice. Primordials, how long has it been since he'd heard his own voice?

"You do not control me," he spoke again, "get out of my mind!"

Agony shot up in his temple like needles piercing. He cried out loud and fell to his knees. His subjects scattered around him, sending bubbles frothing as they formed a wide berth around their king. A brief mental struggle ensued as both gods sought to gain control of the one body.

The second god gained clarity. He remembered everything. From the Olympian war to his talk afterwards with his son. He remembered the events that had led up to this day. The voice hissed with displeasure. It was fighting a losing war. The former absorbed his power around him. This was his domain, not hers. The water churned around him. He used it to, once and for all, banish her.

The voice dispelled as his thoughts cleared themselves, only for a different pain to set in. It was the pain of loss. It felt much worse than the stabs of being controlled by an outsider.

 _Percy,_  he thought. He looked around his court. His subjects were in a frenzy, their nightmare finally ending. The palace was a disorganised choir of chirps of dolphins and scuttles of crustaceans.

Something was wrong. Memories were coming back to him. In four days of forced slumber of his mind, he and the goddess had fought, such that while some of his memories were stolen, he had managed to glimpse a shred of her, and the plans of the Giants.

He thrust his hand and his trident flew to him. Grasping the familiar seashell-and-metal alloy of the pole, he pointed it forward, and a vision appeared before him. He instructed it with a few thoughts, the order of finding his son.

Nothing appeared for a few seconds, the vision remaining a swirling mass of bubbles and cerulean twirls of energy, but soon the vision settled on a place he recognised. Camp Half-blood. The vision zoomed in to a particular spot, and the heart of the god of the sea turned to lead.

_No._

* * *

Disbelief turned to sorrow. Sorrow turned to anger. The grip on his trident tightened.

_Who could have done this?_

He got up from his throne and roared in fury. His subjects scattered in fear. The shout seemed to resonate through the entire oceans. A tsunami could not fully express his rage he was barely able to contain.

He balled his other hand into a fist, feeling the sudden urge to pummel someone. His anger, after a long while, dissipated. The emptiness followed, but he knew he would have to do something.

Answers. That was what he needed. Although he knew one thing for sure. The other gods were as incapacitated as he was about an hour ago - was it an hour? He was not sure, having spent a long while venting his anger. Should he try to contact them? Would the Giants intercept?

He drew on his recollections of the first Giant war. It was a long fight, and although the gods won in the end, heavy losses were suffered. He faintly recalled the twins, before being killed by Artemis, had intercepted a message directed at Ares and changed it to a summoning of Ares to a location where the twins had captured him soon after.

Risking a sent message was too dangerous, especially now that Aphrodite knew she'd lost control of him. Obviously, she had already notified the Giants. Staying in his domain was the safest way to avoid a repeat of being charmspoken.

He got to his feet, slowly. He had to find answers, and he knew where he wanted to go.

He gazed at the vision which had not yet disappeared, and his face creased with worry.


	15. The End Of Me And You

Chapter 15: The End Of Me And You

"This is taking too long, I grow tired of waiting." Gration grumbled.

"Patience, brother." Clytius' voice echoed softly.

"Where is he, anyway?" Barely had these words came out of Gration's mouth when the earth in front of him opened up into a wide hole, and a Giant much larger than the rest of his brethren leaped from the pit, slamming down on the ground, his lance driving  
a crack into the marble floor of the fortress. The other Giants, five of them, backed off quickly.

"I'm here, Gration." Porphyrion said in a tone of amusement, rising to his full height that peaked above the rest. Said Giant immediately dropped into a kneel. "My apologies, lord," he muttered, his voice holding a slight tremble.

"Move aside, brother, I've no time for your petty insolence." The Giant King sat on his throne. He scanned the throne room, counting Gration, Encladeus, Ephialtes and Otis, and Clytius." Where are the rest of our brethren?"

"They are guarding the Shrines, and Mimas has fallen in combat." Encladeus reported. Porphyrion shook his head in disgust. "He was never really strong, but then again, neither are all of you." The rest bristled at the implication, but remained silent.  
They knew better than to challenge their leader, who had been blessed by both the Earth Mother and Tartarus.

"Send Hippolytus to me, I have a request for him." Porphyrion spoke to Encladeus, who knelt and teleported away.

"The rest of you, amass our forces, whatever you have gathered while I was in rebirth. Send them to the camp of those half mortals. It's time to eradicate the demigod scum from this world."

The Giants nodded and disappeared into flashes of crimson light.

* * *

Dawn broke over the horizon. Birds chirped their bright melodies. Trees swayed to the morning wind. To the mortal world, it seemed like an ordinary day. Nothing out of the ordinary. Commuters travelled their normal route to work, children looked out of  
the window of their school bus, faces lined with dejection of yet another monotonous day of learning.

Yet it was a different form of feelings for the campers at the demigod camp of Camp Half-blood. The mood inside the magical boundaries was crestfallen. What hope did they still preserve? The greatest hero had fallen, the Ares campers had gone missing,  
and when things couldn't get any worse, the gods had went silent, leaving the camp in the dark.

The now living flesh-and-blood Oracle had no guidance either. While the initial surprise had astounded a great deal of the campers and Chiron, the small flame of hope had extinguished when she sadly announced even the Oracle had abandoned them.

All they had now was the last prophecy left for Annabeth Chase.

Thinking about this, Chiron's forehead creased with worry, recalling only the first three lines that his favourite pupil had recited. Of course, he knew something was wrong. Three lines of a prophecy was not complete, but he could not get answers.

When Annabeth had returned, abound with joy for attaining the fennel stalk, news about Percy's unfortunate demise struck her to her core. She resigned to her cabin in mourning, and Chiron had decided to leave her be. Asking her about the prophecy, paramount  
its importance is, he could not bring himself to pester her about it.

Training had resumed as usual, with Chiron trying his absolute best to keep the morale steady, but he could not shake a disturbing feeling from his mind. A premonition.

* * *

"So it's true, you're really dead." Nico said, examining the spectral glow of Percy's form. Whether his voice contained pity, sadness or fear, Percy couldn't discern it.

"Yep." Was the reply Nico got. "But talking about more important matters...where've you been, Nico?"

"I hung out around dad's place for a while, until the ghosts told me something was up at Camp Half-blood. Went there and apparently you'd disappeared, along with the Ares campers and everyone had a memory of some girl, according to what I heard from them.  
Went back here..."

Hades took up the story. "He told me all of this, so I thought it was strange. I had a feeling something was wrong, since Tartarus felt a bit more lively than usual. Ancient beings were being resurrected. Adding the fact that Aphrodite had been captured  
by Clytius, I put two and two together. Not only had the Giants risen, Camp Half-blood was being targeted by them."

"So I did a bit of snooping around." Nico chimed in. "Went to a bunch of places where I thought the Giants would be, but I didn't find anything. I came back when I heard that you've died. Tried to find your spirit but just as I came underground..." He  
gestured around him. "Yeah, had to shadow travel around the place to find Dad and hopefully you. Battle some monsters sent by the Giants as well."

Percy looked around for said monsters to no avail. He hoped the skeleton guards and the Furies would be able to protect them in the case of a sudden ambush.

"So where did you go?" Nico asked Percy, eyebrow raised.

"Um...Richmond." Percy said.

"Why?"

"Had to run an errand there, it was nothing." Percy said evasively.

"Perce, you left Camp Half-blood, including all your friends. Annabeth didn't look comforted. I'm guessing you didn't tell her what was going on with you, of where you went. It can't just be nothing."

"Nico," Hades sternly said, "I'm sure Perseus knows what he's doing. He had something to do. If it were important enough for us to hear about it, he would tell us." The God of the underworld looked at Percy inquisitively. Percy was quiet for a while before  
deciding they had a right to know what was happening.

"I went there to find something, but it was a trap set by the Giants. Poseidon appeared in my dream and told me to go there, but he was mind controlled. I found Mimas waiting for me. I got help from Hecate and we defeated him, then I came back here, and  
Orion killed me, so here I am."

The other two listened to his story. When he was done, Hades asked, "Mind controlled? Who did that?"

"You mean you weren't affected?" Percy curiously said. Hades looked bewildered. "No...I can clearly remember everything for the past few weeks, since the kidnappings of the goddesses and the Ares campers."

"Was that why Olympus was closed? All the Olympians were controlled? And by who?" Nico suddenly added.

"It was Aphrodite. She's serving the Giants." Percy grimly answered.

Hades and Nico sat in silence, shocked, but Hades quickly regained his composure. "It would make sense. I recall being summoned for a meeting at Olympus, but I did not attend it. I had a strange feeling that I shouldn't. Afterwards, I did not hear anything  
from the other Olympians..."

"So that confirms it. Aphrodite probably controlled them by returning to Olympus."

"But Aphrodite? Serving the dark side?" Nico was still in shock. Percy shook his head. "No, Aphrodite isn't serving them. She's an equal to them. She wouldn't be a lowly servant."

"That is correct," Hades added, his tone clearly one of distress. "She wouldn't bow to them. I fear her power may rival that of the Giants, and maybe even all of the Olympians."

"Why would she do that?" Nico asked. "And how could she be so powerful! She's a goddess of love, for gods sakes!"

"First of all, she's the eldest Olympian, technically, born from the sea foam, of the ichor of Ouranos. Secondly, she's not just a love goddess. She's the master of temptation, desire and lust. She can reveal what anyone truly wants, lure men into their  
doom. In short, a force to be reckoned with." Hades said.

The trio was silent for a while before Percy spoke up, "So what do we do now? Spirits cannot enter here, so can we even leave? We have to do something!"

Hades stroked his beard, looking into the horizon. "I remember a temple in the Underworld. One that could connect the realm of the living and the realm of the dead, but no one knows where it is."

"What was it called?"

"The Doors Of Death."

* * *

Annabeth had been awake all night, researching into every possible location that the Giants may be, or any key locations of their power. So far, she turned up with none. Her room was littered with books. Not a inch of the floor was spared from the literature,  
while the bookcases remained empty. Hestia was asleep in one of the bunk beds, having passed out from exhaustion.

She looked at the sleeping face of the goddess/mortal. A part of her wanted to do something bad, for "stealing" Percy's love for her, but that was her jealousy talking. She knew very well that that wasn't how love worked. She loved Percy, so if Percy  
was happy with Hestia, why should she be the one to take away Percy's happiness? Perhaps others would think this situation as Percy cheating on Annabeth. To a certain degree, yes he was, but Annabeth couldn't bring herself to be mad at him. Something  
made her happy about that.

She blinked, and looked at her clock. It was four in the morning.  _Gods,_ she thought,  _I was awake that long?_

She didn't feel like sleeping, not until she had found something in her research to help her. She had a plan. No surprise, since she was Athena's offspring, but after days of mourning, she finally devised one.

All she had to do was to find a Giant, preferably from one of these sources of power, force him to trade Percy's life with his, and finish up the war she knew was coming, though she was too terrified to speak it. No point scaring the others even more  
than they already were. She had a gut feeling the veterans from the Titan War also felt it, especially Clarisse La Rue.

She flipped through another book, unsure whether she had already done it before. Her rubbed her eyes.  _Maybe I should go sleep._

She was knocked out even before she hit the bed.

* * *

Her dreams did not seem like much help at first. She was hoping for a little guidance from her mom, as insane as it sounded. Olympus was closed, after all.

She found herself floating in midair, surrounded by darkness. She saw a yellow flame. It was either small, or in the far distance. She tried to reach for it, but it moved off a little to the right. Growling in frustration, she continuously attempted to  
catch it - she wasn't sure why, but she did it nonetheless.

It wouldn't stop moving. Finally, it spoke in a vaguely familiar voice, but one she couldn't put her finger on.

"Annabeth..." It spoke. She jerked back in surprise. She tried to remember the voice, then, it hit her.

"Percy?" She whispered.

"Yes, it's me." At this, a tear leaked out of her eye. The scene must have looked quite surreal: a small flame talking to a demigod who was crying.

"Why did you leave?" Annabeth asked sorrowfully.

Percy sighed. "I know, I'm sorry Annabeth."

"Is this really you? Are you truly speaking to me, or is this just a dream?" Once she said this, she cursed herself. She didn't want to find out it was a figment of her imagination. She wanted it to be real, she wanted to know that she was speaking to  
her fallen loved one.

"It's me, look." The flame dissolved into thin air. For a terrifying second, dread overtook Annabeth, thinking that something had went wrong, but Percy, in his human body, reappeared.

He looked just as Annabeth remembered, with his sea green eyes and tousled black hair. His smile was as dazzling as always, though it was filled with sadness. He was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, the same attire he'd wore the last time she saw him.  
However, he was wearing a brown hood that covered his face, though when their eyes met, he had brought it up. A strange red aura seemed to surround him that illuminated the dark nothingness.

He held up his hands and a image was conjured in a burning flame - two of them, actually. One showed Percy's ethereal form asleep in what seemed like the Underworld. The other showed an Annabeth Chase fast asleep in her bunk bed.

"Looks like demigod dreams can do more than visions of the future," Annabeth said. Percy gave no comment, but his eyes displayed sadness at these words. She wasn't sure why.

Percy closed his hand into a fist, and the flame was extinguished, along with the images.

"I know you have a lot of questions, and if you want to scream at me, or hit me, just do it. I deserve it more than anything." Percy bowed his head in submission.

Annabeth raised her fist and Percy flinched, but the next moment, she had rushed forward and hugged him, tears now flowing continuously. He still had the smell of the sea breeze, something she'd missed for so long. Percy seemed stunned for a second, but  
returned the embrace with equal warmth.

They stayed in this for a while before pulling away. Percy tried for a smile when Annabeth slapped him across the cheek. "Why?" Was the only question she had, and as simple as it was, it contained the answers she wanted.

Percy seemed to understand. He sighed and thought for a while, before saying, "I'll start from the beginning. It was just after the war, when we started dating, I always had a bad feeling something was coming. I was scared for you, that they would use  
you as bait."

He sat back, as though there was an invisible chair. "Your mom...she once told me, after the winter solstice meeting, my fatal flaw was loyalty. I'd save one person, especially anyone that I loved, that I'd see the world suffer." He shrugged. "I guess  
that's true. I was thinking about talking to you about it. I didn't think about breaking up, if that's what you're thinking, but maybe...put it on hold, till I was sure everything was fine."

"Well, easy to tell, it wasn't fine. When Aphrodite appeared - you know everything about the Hestia-Aphrodite-Aelia thing right? Yeah you do. Well, you were affected as well. Hestia was, at that time, my close friend, and I knew I couldn't break your  
spell...so..."

"You had to leave," she finished.

"Yeah. Basically, all these things that distanced ourselves added up. I thought...I thought it was the end of us. Meanwhile, I grew closer with Hestia..."

He left it at that, fidgeting slightly in his invisible seat, looking at his shoes. Annabeth smiled slightly despite the atmosphere. He was still the same Percy.

"Hey." She gently held his head upwards until they met eye to eye. "You know that I'm not mad right? I'm just...disappointed."

"I just..." His voice trailed off. "I'm not sure how I feel about both you and Hestia. I don't know if we can get back together."

Annabeth pushed her hair back. "I'm okay with it. If we weren't meant to be, we weren't. I won't question your relationship with Hestia. I'm not against it either. Me and her are actually on pretty good terms."

"Yeah, I know...so, we're cool?" Percy meekly asked.

She laughed. "Yes, we're cool."

The two of them looked into each other's eyes. Percy reached forward and pulled them into a kiss. It seemed to last forever, or maybe time was slower in dreams, but they both knew this signified the end. And they wanted it to last.

At last, they pulled away.

"You know," Annabeth said, "we haven't talked about the war, or the more important things..."

"True. Oh well, I'll tell you about it now..."

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the window, touching Hestia's eyelids. She groggily woke up, blinking rapidly. She looked around, trying to remember what she was doing in Annabeth's room.

_Oh yeah, I was helping with the research._

Speaking of Annabeth, Hestia looked around for the demigod. Her eyes focused on the sleeping form of the latter. Her blonde hair was sprawled on the mattress, her limbs spread wide. She cracked a smile at this.

Her grin faded as she remembered what was happening. Last night, while half of her mind was focused on helping, the other was thinking about the prophecy, as much as she didn't want to think about it.

Most of her thoughts were on the fourth line, which scared her. A part of her was believing that the her referred to Annabeth, but that would mean Annabeth would be the one to save Olympus. Not that it was impossible, but it was more likely that it was  
talking about Hestia, since she was the Olympian.

Another part of her was comforting her with the widely known fact that prophecies usually have double meanings, and that one should not take the words to heart. Chiron had told heroes again and again of this and that some have driven themselves to madness  
over them.

Not only that, but the fact that the world was unraveling itself to its most inner rawness, everything being flipped right side up, upside down and inside out, it was disconcerting for her. She didn't see the world as it was anymore, from the sacrifice  
demanded to save Percy to the world that no longer was peaceful.

The sacrifice was another thing that she was worrying about. She would gladly sacrifice herself for him, but what would the aftermath be? The gods would question her actions, and come to realise that she'd broken her vow. Assuming she would truly die,  
as in, to fade...

She'd never thought about fading before. It seemed like something that would never happen, or more of, something she didn't want to happen to herself. She recalled the god Pan, who'd faded just a few years ago. She'd felt the mourning of nature itself.  
From then on, it felt different than before.

If she faded, she wasn't sure what the impact would be on the rest, especially for Percy.

Percy. The name alone threatened tears to spill. So much had happened since just a month ago, give or take. From the creation of Aelia Hawthorn, the embodiment of both her and Aphrodite, to the many nights spent between her and Percy. Gods, she missed  
those times.

Up till now, she still was unsure why the Giants had even put her in the body.

She wanted to know more. She didn't want to be suddenly kidnapped just one day after the end of the Titan War. She didn't want to have her former body erased and replaced with a new one and have a sociopathic and traitorous goddess as her neighbour. She  
didn't want to have her first love and have him die by Orion. She needed to know more...

_But is the painful truth worth it? Or should I live with a lie?_

She heard a groan beside her. She turned and saw Annabeth stirring from her sleep.

"Morning," Hestia mumbled.

"Ugh..." Annabeth rubbed her eyes. "How long was I out?"

She shrugged in reply. "I just got up five minutes ago. Did you find anything new while I was asleep?"

At this, Annabeth suddenly looked like she had a shot of coffee. "No," she answered, seeming more awake now, "but I have a lot of things to tell Chiron. Go wash up. We're heading to the Big House after breakfast."

"Why? What did you find?" She asked, half frantic and half curious, but Annabeth was already out of the door.

Hestia sighed.


	16. New Enemies

Chapter 16: New Enemies

"Chiron!" Annabeth called her teacher as he was galloping to the archery range. The latter turned around and had a look of surprise on his face for a short moment before he smiled. "Glad you look better, Annabeth. What is it?"

"I need to go on a quest," Annabeth said, still panting from having to run to catch the centaur. At this, Chiron's brow creased in worry and he stroked his beard.

"I'm not sure if that can happen, child. It's a dangerous time to leave the borders of the camp. The Oracle is silent as well...what is it for?"

"I think I've found a way to bring Percy back. He's meant to be revived," Annabeth quickly added in just when Chiron opened his mouth, "because the-" she stuttered a bit, "the prophecy said so." Guilt bubbled in her as she realised she had yet to tell Chiron the full prophecy.

"The prophecy you've yet to tell me." Chiron said, not unkindly. Annabeth sighed and recounted all the lines of it. When she was done, she said, "I know what you're going to say. Save it." She winced slightly at this disrespect. "I'm sorry, Chiron, but the both of us have to leave now. The faster we finish this, the better."

"Both of you?" Chiron asked curiously.

"Me and Hes-Aelia." She caught herself. She didn't want to have to explain everything to him now.

The ancient centaur was silent for a while before he seemed to finally come to a decision. "Very well, but be careful out there. Do you need any transport? And do you know where to go?"

"No, we can catch a cab. As for where we're going, we're going to find a Giant."

* * *

Percy woke up with a start, beads of sweat dripping down his neck. He wasn't sure if that was due to the noticeable increase in temperature that was unusual in the Underworld, or the dreams that he'd experienced.

While he managed to reconcile with Annabeth and end their relationship on a mutual basis, the latter of which he still felt guilty, and the warm and joyful feelings of finally seeing her in her normal state of mind, the visions that followed were not as pleasant.

After discussing about their situation, sharing stories from both sides and giving each other some instructions and knowledge, Annabeth had woken up - in which case, disappeared, and Percy was immediately forced into a typical demigod dream.

After falling into the empty void of nothingness, he found himself in the surroundings of what seemed to be Tartarus. It certainly looked and heard so.

His heart dropped into his stomach when he heard the unholy symphony of the monsters. Battalions of dracanae marched, their armour clanking and spears thudding. Empousai slithered, Lastrygonians rumbled, evil centaurs galloped, harpies and banshees wailed in the air as they followed the army to wherever they were heading.

Other horrors were present. Drakons of different species circled the army due to their massive size. Some had no legs and slithered like vipers, others had massive scaled legs that shook the ground as they walked. Some were humanoid and wielded swords and maces. Some spat poison and breathed fire. Two headed demons wielding an assortment of unpolished weaponry, or whatever they could find in the pit - branches carved to form spears, boulders they held as shields, torches burning with Greek Fire.

As far as he could see, there were no Giants around.  _Perhaps they had other things to do._

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a bellow echoed through the cavernous place. The monsters halted. Percy narrowed his eyes and zoomed to the source of the sound.

It was a Giant. Towering over the army, the shadow it cast completely voided the frontline of any light. It had scaly limbs that of a dragon, and its chest was covered with a chestplate. Weapons of various types and sizes were strapped to his back. Its face was riddled with scars, leaving no inch of it uninjured.

It was giving orders: bellowing commands and gesturing with his hand. At his feet lay a strange contraption of some sort, or perhaps contraption was not the right word - it seemed more magical than mechanical. Either way, it was four shards of black crystal punctured into the soil, while red energy swirled within the boundaries generated by the crystals. As Percy watched, a battalion of warriors would stand inside and after a brief delay, they would disappear.  _Teleportation,_  he realised.

"Horrifying, is it not?" The Giant spoke. Percy looked at him and leaped back in shock. He was looking directly at him.

"Yes, demigod, I smell your presence. Unfortunately, I cannot crush you now, as much as I'd enjoy it. I did lavish in your fear, however. Your being here poses a slight inconvenience. No matter, Hippolytus is already delivering the message..." His voice trailed off, speaking more to himself than to Percy.

Percy didn't move a muscle, still slightly scared that the Giant was not doing anything.

"Now that you're here, you might as well pass this message to your pathetic camp." The Giant's eyes glinted like molten steel. "This army you see here is coming for them. You have four days to prepare before your precious Camp is reduced to ash and dust. A shame you won't be able to help, but I suppose one addition to the defence will not serve much purpose. I'm sure you'll tell them, so begone, Perseus Jackson." And with that, the Giant drew his broadsword hanging by his waist and slashed it at the demigod. Darkness followed.

* * *

"Sorry, where are we going again?" Hestia asked for what she perceived to be the fifth time.

Annabeth trudged along the earth. Her backpack was stocked with ambrosia, first aid supplies, water and her laptop. "I'm actually not sure."

Just when Hestia was about to retort, a flash of light of light blinded her. Blinking the spots out of her eyes, she saw a bearded man dressed in a tweed suit with shades of aquamarine and sporting an ocean blue tie. His face spoke volumes of emotions too many to show all at once. Desperation, worry, sadness, frustration, relief.

"Oh, thank Olympus I've found you, Annabeth." Poseidon, god of the sea said. Annabeth immediately dropped into a kneel. "Lord Poseidon." She greeted. "It's good to see you, too." Hestia noticed her expression of avoiding the topic of Percy. Poseidon seemed to note this as well - perhaps he had given a slight nod of acknowledgment at this, but she wasn't too sure.

"Who is this?" Poseidon looked at Hestia strangely. She knew Poseidon only saw Aelia, but he had seen Aelia Hawthorn before. He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes.

"You were never one to wear suits, brother." Hestia commented. "I always thought it was Zeus."

Poseidon's eyes widened like dinner plates. "Is that you, Hestia?"

Hestia inclined her head. "It is. You look..." She searched for the correct choice of words. He definitely was not 'good', considering he had just discovered that Percy had died. "Distressed." She finished.

"By Chaos, where have you been?" He looked about ready to unleash a barrage of questions but Hestia raised her hand to stem the flow of said questions.

"As much as I'd like to explain in full detail on what had happened, I feel like now is not the time. Just know that I'm fine."

Poseidon closed his mouth and after a while, nodded. He turned back to Annabeth, who had been standing aside awkwardly. "Apologies for that, Annabeth, but yes, I've came here for answers. I don't have a lot of time. The faster I return to the ocean, the better."

"That was the thing I was planning to ask, Lord Poseidon. We have a plan to bring Percy back." She hurried on when she saw Poseidon's face darken. "We have to find a Giant and trade their soul for Percy's. Do you know where they are?"

"I think I do. I recall the Giant Alcyoneus buried under Mount Vesuvius. I had a few revelations while I was fighting off Aphrodite's control. Minions are currently attempting to resurrect Hades' bane, and he is in a weak state now. Perhaps if you go there now and perform what ritual to swap Percy's life for his..."

"It may work." A warm sense of hope enveloped Hestia for the first time in a while.

"I can transport you two there." Poseidon affirmed. Then he suddenly flinched in what seemed like pain. He clutched his head. "Chaos...I can't stay any longer. I hope we see each other again. I would like to know everything." He raised his hands and spoke a few words of Ancient Greek, and the word dissolved around Hestia.

* * *

"You sent the Iris Message?" Percy asked Nico as he approached them. Nico gave a nod of assent. "I told Chiron, but it didn't seem like he was surprised. I don't know if they can..." He didn't finish the sentence, but Percy knew what he was going to say. He was fearing for the same thing as well.

"Alright, let's keep going. We've wasted enough time sending the message." Hades said, and the group continued walking.

"So where's The Doors Of Death?" Percy asked as they trudged along the rocky terrain.

"I think it's further up north. We should be moving in the right direction." Hades answered.

Percy scanned his surroundings. Ever since he entered the Underworld, he had been feeling a sense of uneasiness and vulnerability. That should be expected, since he was dead, after all. He looked at his hands. They were human, but they were translucent and pale. Basically, very ghostly.

He repressed a shudder.

Just then, Nico pointed at something in the distance. "Is that it?"

Percy squinted at the hill, which was a good hundred metres away. He noticed a small figure jutting from the summit.

He glanced at Hades, who was frowning. "That's strange. The Doors were in a temple..."

"Let's just check it out," Nico suggested. The other two gave a nod of assent. Percy glanced at Hades, who was staring at the figure with uneasiness clearly written on his face.

As they neared the hill, Hades said, "Wait." The other two halted at the foot. Hades barked a command in Ancient Greek, and the three Furies, who had been silent all this while, soared forward. Percy kept his eyes locked on the figure, which had turned out to be humanoid in height.

Just when the Furies flew three metres close to the figure, in the blink of an eye, an earthen shell exploded outwards from it. The man swung his arms in the direction of the Furies.

As though they had been smashed by an invisible hand, the three spiralled into the air, shrieking in surprise. The two demigods backed away quickly. Hades' eyes widened. He barked another command.

The skeleton guards rushed up the hill, seeming unaffected by gravity or fatigue. In one fluid motion, the man dug into the ground and brought out two balls of dirt. He rolled in on the ground like die, which sped down the hill.

Percy watched them. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, the two balls of dirt grew magically in size, but midway the dirt hardened, turning into a boulder.

The two of them rammed the guards, crushing them like ants. The trio leapt aside as the boulders tumbled past.

Then he heard laughter. It sounded familiar, but entirely alien, like hearing someone speak through a microphone with lots of feedback, a garbled mess of words.

"Very good," it said. "You managed to avoid those two."

"Who are you?" Hades roared, hands flaming with black fire. He tossed a fireball at the man, but he simply stepped back. The fireball fell short, burning the patch of Earth in front of him, illuminating his face.

His face was that of a typical trickster, with a sharp chin and nose, pockmarked features and eyes that burned with purple flames like a demon. He looked strikingly similar to someone Percy had met before. Then it hit him.

"Just a hundred and ninety-eight to go!" Sisyphus grinned like a madman.

* * *

Percy had never seen the god of the Underworld at a loss for words, apart from the time he'd put forth his request for him to be made an Olympian. But as they stood watching the now-free Sisyphus laughing maniacally on the hill, possessing powers Percy was scared to fight, Hades was completely petrified.

"Like this?" Sisyphus cackled. "The Giants freed all of us. The famous, or rather, infamous to the rest of you people, group of mortals that received the worst punishments ever known to mankind, have finally been released."

"How many of there are you?" Nico shouted.

"Oh...I don't know. Actually, I do! I just don't want to spoil the surprise, you know." Sisyphus laughed like he was sharing a silly joke.

"Anyways, I should probably warn you. We all wield power given to us by Tartarus himself, and because we're mortal, not even Hades can help you. The Ancient Laws are funny that way. Pity. Nah, I'm not sorry for you guys at all!" With that, Sisyphus launched two boulders directly at Percy and Nico.

Acting instinctively and immediately, the two rolled to the side while drawing their swords.

They charged up the hill. Strangely, Sisyphus didn't move, until they reached the crest. Nico was the first to bring down his sword, but as the blade touched Sisyphus, he vanished.

Blood drained from Percy's face. An illusion.

"Over here!" A cheery voice rang out. They turned around to see Sisyphus standing at the foot.

Percy just noticed Hades. He was standing there, overseeing the entire battle with a pained expression. He could tell he wanted to help, but what Sisyphus said was true. He could not do anything but watch.

"Oh yeah, I forgot one teensy-bit of information. We all got extra power on what we've done, or our personality! Remember how I tricked Thanatos and Hades? Ta-da! I'm an illusionist!" He chuckled at Hades' murderous expression at the mention of his name.

"How do we beat this guy?" Nico whispered to Percy. "We can't reach him before he teleports somewhere else. Either that or he's invisible once he does that trick of his."

"No water here..." Percy muttered. "Can you summon the dead?"

Nico frowned. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Sisyphus say, "Time's up!"

Percy turned and saw two boulders rolling upwards, completely unaffected by the laws of gravity or physics, barrelling towards him at breakneck speed.

 _Too late to move,_  a voice in his mind noticed in a heartbeat.

For a split second, Percy wondered if being a ghost meant he couldn't be hit by any solid objects.

He got his answer in the next second. It slammed Percy straight in the chest, knocking him backwards some ten metres away. Pain exploded in his chest area. His vision turned blurry. His ethereal body burned with agony.

He heard Nico scream his name, but it sounded far away. He heard another sound, like an explosion. Through his fading vision, he thought he saw green fire sending fumes of black smoke spiralling into the air. He heard a high-pitched scream. It was not a scream of a woman, but as though the pain the man was enduring was so unbearable his vocal cords had been ripped savagely.

Another explosion shook his ears, followed by the rush of a violent wind. It was coming from the bottom of the hill. The fire stopped, as did the smoke.

The next thing he knew, or felt, was that the pain was lessened immensely. Strangely, it subsided by the second. His mind cleared.

 _What?_  Was his first thought.  _Why am I alive?_

Again, his question was answered. He looked down.

He saw Hades lying face down on the ground, ichor spilling from his mouth. Nico was by his side, repeatedly mouthing a word Percy could only distinguish to be his father's name. Tears cascaded down his pale cheeks.

Sisyphus was gone. Nowhere to be seen. There was not even a body. Percy looked around, too much in a daze to register the situation. His head still hurt slightly.

He noticed a patch of blackened earth, in the shape of a human, like the chalk outline of a body at a crime scene.

He rushed down. When he got there, he was petrified at the sight of Hades. The god of the Underworld's eyes were glassy and unfocused. His face seemed to have aged an eternity, wrinkles covering every inch of his skin.

He felt for a pulse. To his relief, it was there.

"Nico," Percy said, "he's still alive. Can you do..."

Nico looked at him and his voice faded. Percy saw countless emotions all choked into the boy. Rage, melancholy, despair, desperation, shock. But his onyx eyes clouded by these feelings cleared. He nodded slightly.

He stepped back and chanted a few words of Ancient Greek profusely. He didn't stop. His words blended together into a unpronounceable and frenzied string of syllables.

Hades gasped, his irises returning to focus. The wrinkles disappeared, but some were still there.

"Father!" Nico sobbed, dropping to a kneel and embracing Hades. "I thought you were dead."

Hades was silent for a moment, before he looked up at Percy and his son, then at the pool of ichor where his head was.

"What was that?" Percy asked, relieved that Hades was back to normal, hopefully.

"That," Hades said wearily, "is what happens when you break the Ancient Laws."


	17. Twisted

Chapter 17: Twisted

"It's the twelfth already?" Annabeth flattened the crumpled sheet of newspaper on the gravel road to read it clearer. She made out a small number 12 written on the upper right corner, followed by 6 and 16. "That's..."

"8 days left." Hestia finished for her.

She knelt down next to Annabeth and looked at the headlines, which were written in Italian.

"City wide evacuation." She translated.

"That would explain why no one is here. Probably left from Vesuvius' behaviour." Annabeth looked around. When they'd arrived in the middle of a street, it looked completely deserted, with total silence and zero signs of activity apart from the volcano some miles away.

"You can speak Italian?" She looked at Hestia questioningly.

Hestia raised an eyebrow. "No, when did I speak Italian?"

"You just did."

Hestia was quiet for a while before replying, "That's strange...I don't remember it. Maybe some of my powers are coming back. Must be the fennel stalk."

Annabeth held said fennel stalk she had placed in her backpack out of instinct. It was the sole reason they could do that ritual to Alcyoneus, of course she would bring it along.

She shot a glance at the goddess, who looked deep in thought. Sometimes she forgot the 16 year old girl next to her was technically an omnipotent immortal.

A tremor shook the ground. The two stumbled. A roar from the distance followed it like thunder would follow lightning.

"We're too late," Hestia said, her face pale as a ghost.

Annabeth drew her dagger. "Let's go."

"There will be no need for that, demigod." A voice spoke. It sounded close by and from below her, like the earth itself was speaking.

Then the ground beside her shifted. Scrambling away in panic, Annabeth watched as the road fell into itself, a huge pit swallowing the gravel and dirt.

A huge figure of metal and fire leapt from the pit. Its battlehammer slammed onto the ground first, its wielder landing beside it and picking it up.

"Alcyoneus, bane of Hades. A pleasure to meet you." The Giant's fully black eyes met Annabeth's.

She drew her dagger, eliciting a laugh from him.

"And what challenge will your small twig pose?" He said. Then he looked at Hestia. To further crush Annabeth's hope that he would be intimidated by the goddess, he did not show any signs of fear.

"Ah, yes, Hestia, the oldest of Kronos' children, yet the most lowly in Olympus. Has centuries of such treatment not broken your soul?"

"I don't think so. I'll tell you if it does." Hestia's eyes became steely.

"Yes, mother did tell us attempts to bring you over were all but futile. To your credit, your spirit remains incorruptible, especially after that whole business with Aphrodite. A strange plan, but intelligent nonetheless."

"But it didn't work. I'm standing here now."

Alcyoneus tilted his head. "Did it?"

A brief silence passed over the conversation, before Annabeth spoke up. "So? Where's the part where you unfold your diabolical plan of destroying Olympus?"

"Ha! You think we are the Titans. You think wrong. Do you suppose we will divulge our schemes and information to your minds, so that you may tell the rest? We are better than them, born of Tartarus than Ouranos."

Annabeth gripped her dagger tighter as sweat threatened to slip it from her hand.

"And now the two of you have come here, hoping that you can attempt to trade my immortal soul for Perseus?" He laughed. "I think not. You believe your own objectives are not made known to us?"

"Spies?" Hestia spoke up.

"I would not say spies, but deception is in play." Alcyoneus answered. "No matter. I will crush you like the gnats you are, and even if I fall, you cannot fight the earth. You will die in the end, whether it will be at my hand or not remains to be seen."

He raised his hammer in a gesture of challenge. "Come, daughter of Athena and goddess of fire. Show me your prowess, and we will see who is the most deserving of death."

"Be careful," Hestia muttered, "he can't be killed in his homeland."

"Yeah, I know, but how are we going to lure him away?" Annabeth whispered back. Her dagger was drawn and she was in her battle stance. She recalled her geography lessons. Vesuvius was around nine kilometres from the city of Naples, but a short distance from the shore. Looking behind her, from her slightly elevated point on the slope, she could just make out the coastline on the horizon. It looked like a long way, and she doubted she would be able to bring Alcyoneus there without him realising of her intentions.

"Doubtful of winning?" Alcyoneus hefted his hammer on his shoulder casually, as though the battle were a tea party. "I am not surprised. While you have a goddess on your side, or at least, a goddess-turned-mortal, what you have learned from your teachers is true: I cannot be defeated as long as I stand on my homeland. And I am born upon the mountain of Vesuvius, in the country of Italy. What hope do you still preserve, demigod?"

Just as he said this, Annabeth felt a spark in her brain go off, as it had many times. But this time, it was mind-blowing. A fact that felt so useless since her childhood, sitting at the back of her brain, had finally been remembered. A smile began to creep onto her face.

"I know what to do," she whispered to Hestia. "Get him off the mountain."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" She tried her best to hide her excitement. She was terrified that the Giant would somehow steal her thoughts, but the sole fact he had forgotten this crucial myth was the key to defeating him.

"I've waited enough." Just as she heard the words spoken by him, she dodged a slam from his hammer. She rolled aside and started running down the slope.

"Trying to bait me off this place?" Alcyoneus laughed. "Do you know the geography of this planet? We are far from the shores of Italy's neighbours."

He followed, to the elation of Annabeth. She looked back and saw Hestia catching up with her. She still looked confused, but Annabeth hardly had the time to explain her plan. The last thing she wanted was the Giant to overhear it.

She turned around and saw she still had a rough hundred metres to cover before she reached flat ground. It was difficult to look back and keep her footing without slipping.

"You waste my time, mortals." The words came just as the ground around her erupted, lava bursting from the cracks. Heat immediately stung her face like desert wind, only a thousand times worst. A violent splash of raw magma seeped from the ground. It was only a matter of time before she would be melted by it.

_So this is how it ends, huh?_

It was almost insulting. She had gotten so far, but then Alcyoneus had to cheat and let lava burn her to death.

But she didn't burn. The lava was kept at bay, like there was an invisible barrier surrounding her.  _What the Hades?_

"Go." Hestia's voice had never felt clearer before. Maybe it was the close shave with death, but more than likely it was the fact that Hestia's eyes were molten gold and her hands were glowing red, orange and yellow.

Annabeth decided not to question the goddess and ran downwards. She heard Alcyoneus sneer, "Congratulations, goddess. You've obtained your powers again. You are still dead."

She heard footsteps behind her and guessed that Hestia was following her. Just as she was around twenty metres on flat ground, enough for the Giant himself to enter it, she turned around and yelled, "Now!"

Thankfully, Hestia understood. She produced a jet of fire from her hands which blasted straight into Alcyoneus' face, while Annabeth threw her dagger with as much force as she could muster. It pierced straight into his forehead.

Ichor splattered onto the ground and it didn't stop pouring. Alcyoneus screamed in agony, burned by the flames and wounded from her knife. Falling to the ground, his breath was reduced to batedness.

"How is this possible?" He gasped for air. He wrenched the dagger away, but the damage was already done. As Annabeth watched, his legs started to crumble.

"Mountains aren't part of a country, because the Nymph is the spirit of the mountain," she recounted. Then her thoughts cleared, replaced by alarm. "Quick! The stalk!" She immediately grabbed the fennel stalk and gave it to Hestia, who reacted instantly and snatched it, then raising it up high.

She heard the choking laugh of Alcyoneus. "Your ritual is nothing but a distraction." Hestia paused at this, her hand faltering. Annabeth took a step towards him, wanting to shut him up and tell Hestia he was probably buying time until he died and they could not perform the ritual, yet the Giant's words were so compelling the words died in her throat.

"Your Perseus will return to you in due time, but his tasks lie elsewhere. You want advice, demigod? My advice..." He took a deep breath, "Run to your camp now. Defend it. A war is coming, and the demigod camp is its first target." He choked as ichor spilled from his gaping mouth. He looked upwards, to the sky, in melancholy. "So it is not my hand that will slay you, but my brethren will."

The Giant's blank eyes shut for the last time as he heaved his last breath. Alcyoneus passed.

"Alive for an hour, now you fade for another eternity." Hestia murmured. She raised her hands in a blessing. "Sleep well,  _immortales_." Fire engulfed the body, burning it until it was nothing more than ash. The wind blew it away afterwards.

Annabeth was silent throughout this short ceremony. Alcyoneus' words still echoed in her head. She didn't want to believe that the ritual was fake. How many sleepless nights had she had, with only this to save her from the madness that was driving her insane? Then he told her that the camp was going to be under attack. Was that true? Was he trying to distract her from her quest, assuming that his earlier statement was false?

He also said Perseus would return to the living. How is that possible? How would he know that? Do the Giants have foresight?

The worst thing was before all of this, he'd told her that deception was prominent. That could mean everything he said was either true or false. It twisted his words so much it was like a tangled rope that could not be untangled, a spider web that stretched on forever.

"Why do you honour him?" Annabeth said quietly, insides seething with anger directed at unknown people.

Hestia turned to face her. Her eyes were sad, maybe by the same reasons Annabeth was thinking about, maybe about Alcyoneus, or some other explanation entirely. "I'm the goddess of peace, Annabeth. He may have been our enemy, but honouring him is the rightful thing to do." She was silent for a second before she commented, "Or have you forgotten the ancient ideals the Greeks have lived by for centuries?"

Her tone of coldness took Annabeth by surprise. She blinked at Hestia for a moment, then said, "Sorry. I'm just mad. I don't know why, or who I'm mad at."

Hestia offered no comforting words. "Let's go." Was all she said, before she turned at walked away.

"Where are we going?" Annabeth called. Hestia ignored her. She sighed and followed her.

 _Goddess of peace,_  she scoffed.

* * *

Hestia's hands still burned.

She didn't tell Annabeth. No point worrying her over something Hestia already knew what the cause was. Her hands felt like they were dipped into Vesuvius' lava. Her expression was straining to hide the agony. She felt like apologising to Annabeth for being so cold, but she didn't feel like it.

 _Stupid mortal,_ a part of her thought heatedly,  _you care about no one but yourself._

She extinguished the anger as it came, reeling from the shock of that hatred-filled thought. She had never had a hateful thought towards anyone before, not even to Kronos. Not to Zeus. If she had any before, it was but minor annoyance. But this was different. The thought was clogged to the brim with loathing, the burning desire to strangle her.

_What is happening to me?_

It wasn't just the change in her personality. The sole fact that she had used her powers for harm instead of heal. Her mind and body wasn't accustomed to this, no more than her fires were.

It was due to this that her hands were pain. Her body was conflicted, two sides of her battling. And that internal fight was agonising her.

She heard footsteps behind her. At least Annabeth was following. She'd half expected the demigod to storm off in exasperation or anger.

As for where Hestia was headed, she had a very important place in mind.

* * *

Chiron thought the day couldn't get any worse. Not only had he been unable to find the last pieces of the prophecy, a Giant had shown up at the borders. The screams of terror were the doorbell, and the tremors the knock.

He galloped towards the entrance, bow at his side, ready to shoot any monsters that were large or scary enough to terrify the guards. He didn't need anymore demigods to die, especially since...

He shook the thought away as he arrived. To his shock, he saw a thirty-feet tall Giant dressed in Ancient Greek messenger wear: a golden skirt with a red undergarment, a golden breastplate and a helmet. His skin was dragon-like, with crocodilian scales of swamp green. A short sword hung by his waist.

"What business do you have, Giant?" Chiron shouted, his bow drawn taut.

"Calm yourself, centaur." The Giant rumbled, his voice deep and resonating. "I come in peace. My master has a message to deliver to you." He produced a scroll and tossed it to Chiron.

Chiron caught it as the size was scaled down to fit Chiron's hand magically. He scanned it for any dangerous things hidden but found none. Of course he couldn't have, due to his oath of peace, which was an Ancient Law for everyone and not just immortals, but he still was unsure.

"What is this?" He looked up from his examination, but the Giant had disappeared.

Without a second thought, the centaur galloped away without tending to the still frightened guards, his hand clenched around the scroll tightly.

He reached the Big House and shut his office door behind him, not wanting even the Oracle to see this.

Sweeping all other things off his desk, he laid the scroll on the mahogany wood and unfurled it. His breath caught when he did.

The scroll had three words scrawled on it with what seemed like blood of the gods, golden liquid dried unto the leathery skin.

_We are coming._


	18. Hearts And Minds

Chapter 18: Hearts And Minds

Porphyrion smashed the table in rage, spraying splinters everywhere. "Alcyoneus is dead?"

The rest of the Giants rustled with distress. Enceladus, sitting the closest to the Giant king, scooted backwards slightly, and Hippolytus, the bearer of the bad news, scrambled backwards.

No one had expected such a fearsome reaction from Porphyrion. This was most unlike him, considering that the latter had shrugged off Mimas' death without giving it a second thought.

"Send our forces now! I am done giving chances to the demigods. They will pay!" He roared, slamming his fist on the armrest of his throne. The Giants didn't move.

"What are you waiting for, you useless fools? Go!" The Giants scrambled out of their seats and teleported away.

Once they were all gone, Porphyrion raised his hands such that the light from the nearby torches were touching his fingertips.

"Aphrodite, I summon you!" He said.

Immediately, a puff of pink smoke blanketed the teleportation of the goddess, who smiled at the Giant.

"Greetings, Porphyrion." Her smile grew wider. "What's up?"

Porphyrion clenched his fists. He wasn't used to her calling him by his name. Aside from Gaia and Tartarus, she was the only living organism who dared to speak his name. Calling him by his name meant she was elevating her position to his equal, and technically, she was.

Unfortunately.

"What news?" Porphyrion growled.

She pouted. "Oh, what's with the face? Something wrong?"

"Alcyoneus is dead. Have you not heard?"

"Of course I did," she replied unemotionally, conjuring up a bunch of grapes.

"And you do not care? He is our elder Giant. I may be the strongest, but he was the eldest. And the eldest of the Giants to best the eldest -" His voice caught.

"The eldest Olympian?" Aphrodite tilted her head in amusement. "Was that what you wanted to say?"

Porphyrion remained silent.

"Remember, dear Porphyrion, that I am the eldest, and hence I have no equal on your side. I care as much about a death of an ally as much as I care about a death of an enemy. So what if Alcyoneus was defeated by a half-mortal and a goddess of peace because he forget his geography?" She sneered.

"You dare dishonour him?" Porphyrion roared.

"What if I am?"

There was a tense silence which was broken by the Giant's growl. "You forget your place, goddess."

"And you, yours."

Porphyrion unsheathed his sword. Aphrodite raised her hands and blood red sparks flew from her fingertips. Just before the situation could escalate, a rumble from the ground signalled the arrival of another powerful entity, one that both immortals knew too well. Immediately, the two dropped into a kneel at the pit that had formed in front of them.

Slowly, a lady rose from the hole. Her skin was the colour of beach sand. Her long teakwood hair was combed neatly, flowing down her shoulders. She was dressed in a elegant green dress, with patterns of leaves and flowers, with a river flowing through the entirety. It would take a while for most to realise that the decorations were alive and moving. The leaves swayed slightly as though there were a light breeze. The river flowed calmly and splashed cheerfully.

Beautiful as she was, but her eyes ruined the image. They were stony. Literally. Glowing green lines etched onto the granite to form the picture of irises.

"Porphyrion, Aphrodite," Gaia chided motherly, "were the two of you fighting?"

Neither spoke up. Aphrodite's lip trembled slightly.

"Any news, Aphrodite?"

"Hestia and the girl are going to her shrine. They don't know about me yet." She laughed, albeit a bit nervously.

Gaia nodded. "As planned. Has Gration reached there yet?" She looked at Porphyrion.

"Yes." He replied.

"Good. What other news?"

"Porphyrion began the attack early." Aphrodite grumpily said.

Gaia sighed. "Porphyrion, just because Alcyoneus died doesn't mean you have to speed up our entire scheme! Do you understand how much you've affected?"

The Giant king had nothing to say except for looking at his feet in shame, like a child.

"Send a message to our dear guardians. Tell them to get ready. It's time we've began the real war." Gaia said to Porphyrion.

"It would take me at least three days to warn them all, mother. Send Hippolytus instead." Porphyrion attempted to negotiate, but cowered under his mother's threatening gaze.

"You forced this." Gaia replied coldly. "Our plans have to be rushed now. This is your punishment." Her tone suggested arguing was the worst response Porphyrion could do. He bowed deeply and teleported away in a flash of red light.

"Aphrodite, call Gration back. Bring them in yourself." Gaia ordered, and the goddess nodded. "As you wish, mother."

Before she could teleport away, Gaia called, "Wait."

Aphrodite paused.

"Let the gods go."

"Why?"

"Poseidon has already broken free and will figure out a way to free his brethren. I want their freedom under our secret control, not Poseidon's. Plant fake memories in them to explain their absence to the demigod camp. With Perseus dead, he cannot come to the rescue to the gods. They'll be just as blind as the demigods."

"But you must make sure that Hestia is under your control before doing so. She'll feel the gods prescence the minute they're free. She's receiving her powers back as we speak. We cannot have her teleport to Olympus. No one is there to stop them, not even us."

"Understood." A shroud of pink followed those words and the goddess was gone.

* * *

"Listen, you don't have much time," Hades coughed. As Percy watched, Hades' skin was turning paler, almost like an actual ghost. His fingertips were burning with green fire, an ethereal sort of flame.

"If you keep going this way, you'll end up at the Doors Of Death. And with every door, there's a key." He looked at Nico gravely. "You know the key."

Nico looked aghast. "What? I don't know any key. I've never heard of the Doors."

"There's no time to explain!" Hades coughed. His skin had entirely turned white and green, with a pulsing heart of energy that had turned pale green clearly visible. It was getting weaker.

"When you get in, you should be able to relocate the pathway of new souls. The Underworld will be restored, but be careful. The souls will not pass through any judgement."

"Lastly, the villains Sisyphus mentioned will be somewhere. Probably hiding and waiting to ambush you. One will definitely be at the Doors itself." He coughed. His breath became more rapid.

"I have faith in you two. The fate of the Underworld lies in you. As for me.." Hades' voice trailed off. He looked at his son.

"I have somewhere to go. I'll be back soon." He smiled sadly.

And with that, the god of the underworld dissolved into green mist.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, before Nico stood up and grabbed his sword, which was lying on the bedrock floor.

"Lets go." The son of Hades impassively said.

Percy nodded quietly. He wondered if he should say anything comforting to Nico, but decided that he probably wanted none.

The two began walking up the hill where they had met Sisyphus and kept moving forward. As it turned out, the hill was quite small, and they started descending it just after walking across the small summit, but not before seeing something appearing in the distance.

A small figure. It looked human, and from this far away, Percy frowned. It looked like it was waiting for them, with arms on his or her hips.

"Is that..." Percy began to say.

"Our next challenger." Nico said mockingly, but not without a hint of darkness. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

"We're here." Hestia announced.

"Your temple?" Annabeth squinted at the Greek words inscribed on the twin wooden doors. To her surprise, symbols spelling "Temple Of Serenity" was clear etched onto the rosewood. It was hard to see how it was a temple. It was half the height of all the temples she had visited. It was constructed from bricks and painted pure white.

"Yes." Was the reply. Hestia walked up and pushed the door open. Annabeth followed her inside.

The interior was slightly different, but still plain. The flooring was made of brown tiles and the walls were white marble. Torches lined the pillars that held up the flat ceiling. In the centre of the temple, a hearth was smouldering gently. Firewood magically appeared as Annabeth watched.

"So...what did we come here for?" Annabeth asked Hestia, who was seated beside the fire.

"Two reasons." Hestia stretched her hand forward and brushed the flames whilst receiving no pain.

"One, I need my powers back faster. Two, we need to talk to Poseidon, to see how we can free the Olympians." She took a deep breath, and the flames grew brighter.

Annabeth scanned the surroundings. Despite the lack of any stained glass or windows on the walls, the fires kept the whole place warm and bright like the sunrise.

"Don't interrupt me during my meditation or I -" Hestia's voice caught.

"What is it?" Annabeth immediately unsheathed her dagger.

A sharp breath. "There was a Giant here. Just a few minutes ago. He left."

"That doesn't make any sense. If he was planning to ambush us, why did he leave?"

Hestia was about to reply when she stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened. "There's another one."

"The same one?"

"No. It's a different feeling. It's not a Giant. Then it must be a..."

"God." Hestia smiled, but it wasn't a smile of warmth. It was a grin of utter malice. A grin of a trickster.

Annabeth took a step back, her eyes focused on Hestia. "You're not Hestia." Her expression slowly turned to abject horror. Her body went rigid like a statue of Medusa.

"Indeed, my dear. I'm Aphrodite, goddess of love and desire, the eldest Olympian, spawn of Ouranos. Now come, follow me, before I incinerate you and Hestia."

* * *

Percy was glad that the masked man introduced himself with words and not throwing a huge boulder at them.

He had initially assumed that the man was that joyful to see them to be permanently smiling, but as they drew nearer, he realised that the man was wearing a mask, bearing a disturbing resemblance to those masks that serial killers wear. It was made of polished steel, reflecting the red light from the lava to give it a solar ecliptic look.

"Finally! I was beginning to think you died on the hill." The man clapped his hands. He was holding no weapon, and wore tattered brown robes. Strangely, the bottom half were damp, as though he had gone swimming.

"Who are you?" Percy asked, but Nico had an answer.

"You're Tantalus." Nico stated, and the man applauded. Percy guessed he was beaming at Nico, if it weren't for the smiling mask blocking his face.

"Indeed, my prince." Nico visibly bristled at the word.

"So, what do you do? You're not carrying any weapons, as far as I can see." Percy noted. He could have been carrying a hidden blade or wielded magic, but if Percy remembered his myths correctly, Tantalus was a king. A king like him wouldn't know how to fight well.

"You were a king once. You dined with the gods." Percy recounted. "You asked for nectar and ambrosia, and they didn't give it to you, so you became hateful."

"In anger, you killed your son and cooked him in a stew for the gods." Nico's gaze was filled with spite, but also a hint of satisfaction.

Tantalus tilted his head at the two of them. The mask suddenly became unnerving. "Good that you two remember your mythology, and thank you for that trip down memory lane. Your deaths will be so much more agonising."

"I've faced worse than a coward behind a mask." Nico snarled, his blade held steady.

"We are all cowards, son of Hades. Every man has his own deepest fears." Tantalus took a step forward.

"Or perhaps, every man has a desire. A desire so deep and strong, it could control him. He would submit his life, existence, fate, destiny, all for it."

"Now..." His words suddenly took on a tone that of disguised venom, a deathly facade. Percy's mind slowed.

"Show me yours." The mask suddenly glowed gold. Percy realised his mistake too late before it happened, and he had stared at the mask, mesmerising as it was, for far too long.

* * *

Perseus Jackson felt like he should remember where he has been. He tried to recall what had happened just five seconds ago, but his mind was a total blank.

A hearth was crackling in front of him, and beside him was a figure sitting cross legged. Her auburn hair glowed like the sunrise in the flame.

"Hestia." Percy took in a breath. She turned to face him and smiled. He couldn't hold back his.

"I've missed you, Percy." Hestia said with a tinge of sadness.

"Me too." He replied.

The air was still, and there was no sound. The moon was hanging in the sky, while the stars glittered over them. The constellations watched over the two: Virgo, Leo, Aquarius, and many more.

"I...I love you, Hestia." Percy forced the words out. Inside, he wanted to say those words for such a long time, but did not dare, because he was fearful of the repercussions.

Hestia looked down, blushing furiously, but just as she opened her mouth, a voice screamed inside Percy's head.

Then he realised, the voice was his.

* * *

Pain exploded in Percy's chest. He could not hold back a choked cry, and stumbled back, his mind raw with pure agony, ethereal blood of some sort spilling from the wound. Apparently, being a ghost still did not make him immune to injuries.

Tantalus drew back his dagger, shining with blood, and brought it to his mask.

"Ah...the scent of spiritual blood. Smells the same as living blood, if you ask me." Tantalus inhaled deeply.

"You're a monster," Percy managed to say.

"Not quite. You see, I only injured you, and since you're a ghost, you won't die. Your friend however...a dagger to his heart will certainly kill him." Tantalus coolly replied.

Nico! Percy looked around for the son of Hades, and found him standing as still as a statue, his head bent low as though in a trance.

"What did you-" Percy started to say, weakly attempting to draw his sword, but was interrupted.

"He's seeing his deepest desire. If he's seeing his fear, he'd be running around and screaming. At least I think he would, the last few monsters that came here died from fear before I even could catch them and kill them. Probably thinking about Kampe." He said in an amused tone.

"But let's talk about your desire. So...Hestia, huh?" He said cheekily, like he was Percy's annoying friend, and Percy guessed he was grinning under the mask.

Percy felt himself flush. The pain was ebbing away. He held his blade tighter. "That's none

of your business."

"Perhaps, perhaps, but oh dear, a chaste goddess falling in love? Wouldn't that be a catastrophe to the Greek world? What would everyone think, their symbol of chastity disappearing because Percy Jackson wooed her?"

He briefly remembered the judges' words.  _"You have destroyed the raw, most inner personality of Hestia."_  He banished the thought.

"And furthermore, just imagine the reaction of the gods! I mean, you would be destroyed utterly, and Hestia thrown off Olympus, and what a terrible time to tell them this, right in the middle of a war...what a shame it would be..."

"Don't. Dare." Percy hissed. All pain forgotten, his blade was now held level at Tantalus' head.

Tantalus tilted his head. "Well then, if you insist on physical combat, I accept. But I must warn you, I'm quite proficient at my art."

"I don't care. I have all the time in the world. I'm dead anyways."

"Ah, as delighting as that may sound, I'm afraid your friend does not. The longer he stays inside his head and with his greatest desire, the harder it will be to bring him back and convince him it was a vision. Who knows, perhaps he will go insane."

A lump formed in Percy's throat. "I battle you. If I win, you release Nico."

"And if you lose?" Tantalus said innocently.

"We'll get to that if I do."

"Very well." The smile on the mask seemed to glow with elation. Tantalus poised his dagger with an ice pick grip, that of an assassin's.

Percy readied Riptide.


	19. Awakening

Chapter 19: Awakening

Katie Maybell Gardner forced a smile at her boyfriend until he was out of sight, before it melted into the same expression she'd been wearing for the past two weeks.

It was a collection of emotions, none of them good, that she was trying desperately to hide in front of the younger ones, and the councillors, but once she was alone...

Gods, and everything was going so well too. After the war, she thought she could finally have a peaceful few years before heading to college. Even better, she finally got together with Travis Stoll, after five years of making passes and hinting.

Then the first incident happened.

The Ares campers disappearance shook the camp hard. Despite their really-bad attitude and stubbornness, they were the best fighters in the camp - well, now that Percy Jackson was...

Katie swallowed the lump in her throat. It was difficult to get over the fact that Percy had died. Like...he was actually gone. The two of them weren't particularly close: she had only known him as a friend she could count on and a leader, who had battled Kronos and other Titans, who fought the second Titan war alongside her and other older campers.

She was sure the other veterans felt the same way. It was hard to believe that he had died. His future was bright as well: he had a girlfriend, he could have went to college, but it seemed that the Fates were being their old, unkind selves, to put it lightly.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.  _Shut up._

The second was the strange memory that everyone seemed to have about this blonde girl. Coincidentally or not, Percy Jackson was gone the night before everyone woke up to having that memory.

The third was the sudden and unexpected closure of Olympus. The gods went silent, Iris Messages to them didn't work, no one went in or out of the Empire State Building.

Fourth was, well...Percy's death. Moving on...

Up till now, the fifth was the message but what Katie assumed was Hippolytus and Nico di Angelo, both warning of a war occurring at camp.

She figured this would happen. The battle of the Labyrinth happened just before the actual Titan War. It was no surprise that the Giants would try to wipe out the demigods, since they were a key weakness they could eliminate.

Still, the news didn't help the morale. Drills were increased and guard posts were doubled. Chiron was trying his best to keep spirits high, but it was painfully obvious that this was one war the camp may not be able to overcome.

The only thing she could do now was pray and hope for the best. Maybe a miracle would happen.

Only time would tell.

* * *

"Brenda! Lunch!" Butch called.

"Wait! A few more drachmas!" The nine year old girl replied. She heard him sigh in resignation.

Everyone told her it wouldn't work. Olympus was closed, the gods wouldn't respond, blah blah blah. Only Brenda Violet kept trying.

There was no harm. Being a child of Iris, the cabin had an infinite supply of drachmas which could only be used for Iris Messages, so the Hermes kids wouldn't raid the place every waking hour.

She had spoken the prayer a thousand times and got nothing a thousand times. She wasn't sure why she was doing it. Maybe it was due to the prospect of the world being ruled by the Giants and camp half-blood, her only home, being destroyed.

In spite of the attempts to shield the younger campers from this, Brenda wasn't dumb. She overheard conversations. She added up the facts. The war was in - what, 3 days?

And here she was, trying over and over again, to establish contact with the gods. Better a small chance of hope than no hope at all.

She tossed in another drachma. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, answer my prayer. Show me the Olympians."

She half-expected another automated reply from mom. "Unable to be reached."

Instead, to her surprise, the rainbow rippled. She saw the throne room, and the gods were sitting on their thrones with expressions of confusion and nausea.

"BUTCH!" Brenda screamed without hesitation.

Her half-brother ran in, shouting, "What? What?"

Then he saw the image. His face paled. "Oh my gods. Call Chiron. Quick."

Brenda was out of the door before he finished his sentence.

* * *

Not again.

Hestia's heart was hammering in her chest. She stretched out her hands and felt invisible walls closing in, ever so slowly, around her, as though they were pitying her. Everything around her was complete darkness.

She hated this. She loathed the feeling of being taken over by a foreign soul. More than ever, she despised the powerlessness she felt whenever this happened.

Then she heard the laughter, signalling the prescence of her.

The laugh was as cold and clear as Arctic water. She had heard it so many times, until it echoed in her head whenever she thought of her.

A flash of pink, and then the goddess appeared, her face shining with delight.

A repetitive sound reverberated throughout the empty void. Applause.

"Aphrodite." Hestia said, trying her best not to sound fearful.

"Geez, Hestia, what's with the face?" Aphrodite frowned.

Hestia remained quiet. Anything she said or did was pure entertainment to the goddess.

"Sorry for barging in. Just needed to bring you two in before you guys mess anything but up."

"You never left, did you?" Hestia asked. "You've been seeing what I'm seeing, hearing what I'm saying..."

"Chaos above, have you been intruding on my thoughts?" The prospect was too horrifying to even consider.

For this, Aphrodite returned a grin. "Smart girl. If it's any comfort, I won't tell anyone about you and Percy. I do enjoy a heartbreaking, tragic, forbidden love story. This is the best one ever! A goddess of chastity and Perseus Jackson..."

Hestia felt her face redden. "That's none of your concern."

"That's so cute! That's the same thing Percy said when he was asked."

"Wait, Percy's alive?"

Aphrodite giggled. "Of course not, but he has a soul, doesn't he?"

Hestia was silent for a moment. "So, the whole feeling I felt when Clytius sent me back, that sensation of what I thought was you leaving, it was fake?"

"Yep. Why on earth would I pass up an opportunity to spy? I was already in your head. Why would I leave? I did enjoy the relief you felt when you thought I did. That was funny. Wait, that's supposed to be offensive to me. Ah well, still funny."

"Anyways, nice chat with you. Just stay here for a bit. I promise you'll love the jail. Better than the last one with the wretched giant-demigod mutant...thing." She made a face.

And she was gone, leaving Hestia in the cold, lonely darkness, and the silence.

* * *

The cave opened up to darkness. Dracanae guards slithered aside, letting her and Aphrodite inside. Torches were magically lit as the two passed them, going down the spiral staircase constructed of polished marble and quartz, which was a stark contrast to the musty and filthy cave. The walls of the cave were rough and crumbly. Dust scattered when Annabeth laid a hand on them, startling her slightly.

As they reached the bottom, the stench hit Annabeth. It smelt like fresh dirt and manure combined. And it came from what lay five feet in front of her.

It was a horrendous sight. It was a living, beating, earthen heart, webbed with roots for veins, and sap for blood.

"Behold," Aphrodite announced, "the heart of the Earth Mother, the primordial goddess of the planet, Gaia."

"I've seen pigs prettier than her." Annabeth snorted. Aphrodite shot her a warning look.

"Watch your tone with her. You wouldn't want to have the same fate as Ares, would you?"

"Ares? What happened to him?" Annabeth couldn't hide a hint of fear in her voice.

Aphrodite smiled. "Indisposed."

"Gods..." The demigod breathed. "He's dead? Faded?"

"Faded is a strong term. He is serving as a power source to Gaia. His life force is slowly draining from him. So he's not faded yet, if that's comforting."

"It's not."

"I said if."

Annabeth looked away from Aphrodite, or Aphrodite in Hestia's body. She couldn't imagine the pain Hestia was suffering, having her spirit ripped out from her form, and Aphrodite replacing her.

"What are we waiting for anyways?"

"Oh, Gaia just wants to talk to you for a bit, before we toss you in prison, or whatever's left." She flashed a cruel smile.

Just then, a wind swooped by, extinguishing the flames almost instantly, at the same time. The room entered darkness for a moment, before a bright green light burst from the heart. The image of Gaia appeared on the surface.

Annabeth took a good look at the goddess. Her hair was tied up into a bun, with what looked like a stalactite used as a hairpin. Her eyes were empty, with granite filling the sockets. Her skin was the colour of sand.

"You may leave, Aphrodite." The voice of Gaia echoed around the cavern. Duh, of course it would. She is the earth.

Aphrodite bowed and left, climbing up the spiral staircase and out of sight.

"So, Annabeth Chase. We finally meet, face to face."

Giving no response prompted Gaia to speak, "I see you do not enjoy formalities. Very well. I come before you with an offer."

"To join you? No thanks."

Gaia frowned. "Come now, my child, let's be logical. What chance does your camp, and your gods, stand against me, and the Giants?"

Before she could open her mouth to reply, she pressed forward. "Furthermore, what, and who are you fighting for?"

Her words washed over Annabeth. It sounded soothing and persuasive, numbing her mind and body. Moreover, it sounded empathetic. Annabeth watched the primordial goddess' expression. It was genuine. She had known betrayal. She had known pain. Centuries of it. Had she been an ordinary mortal, her mind would have shattered.

"I..." Annabeth's voice faltered. She knew she was going to be persuaded. She'd been tempted so many times in her adventures. A part of her mind still spoke clarity, and it was surprised that Gaia was that convincing.

 _Snap out of it,_  it warned.

Then a series of images flashed before her eyes. It showed her the strawberry fields and her friends training. She saw her closest moments with Percy: When they were under the lake, when they had their picnic at Central Park...

 _Fight for them, fight for him,_  a soft, serene voice spoke to her.

"Well?" Gaia said.

"My answer is no." Annabeth replied, her voice as cold as steel.

Gaia sighed. "It was worth a shot."

The earth opened up and swallowed her, sending her into darkness.

* * *

Percy couldn't remember how many times he'd battled people that were stronger than him, with his friends' lives on the line, and won.

So this fight should have been a piece of cake, but he had this uneasy feeling that he tried to extinguish that he may not win this one.

Antaeus, Ares, to name a few. They had flaws. They were arrogant, they thought they had the upper hand, which were the causes of their demise.

Tantalus was different. He was obviously stronger than him, but he used every bit of that strength in his fights. He knew that there was that tiny chance that he may lose from his hubris, and wanted to make sure that he exerted the maximum advantage that he had.

Percy focused on the blade Tantalus was carrying. It was made of a strange metal that was darker than the usual iron blacksmiths used. As grey as it was, it produced a dark red glow.

"Like my blade? She's called Lucifer. You know the story, right? Lucifer used to be God's right hand in Christianity, until he fell from grace, into the depths of hell." He tossed the blade into the air and caught it casually.

"Enough talk." With that, Percy lunged forward.

In the blink of an eye, Tantalus had sidestepped it and parried. As the metal of Anakamuklos clashed with Tantalus' blade, it screeched a deafening sound. It was like the sound of fingernails on a blackboard amplified a hundred times.

Tantalus seemed unfazed about the aggression Percy was displaying, carelessly parrying and defending.

"Alright, playtime's over."

A flurry of strikes were immediately thrown at Percy. The latter pulled back and just managed to block them. He returned a stab at Tantalus' gut but the king moved to the side and slashed in an arc at Percy's chest. He rolled to the side to dodge and recover his position.

Percy's arm ached from blocking. Tantalus' strikes were quick and strong; Percy had to use quite a bit of strength to hold his ground.

"Give up, Jackson. You can't defeat me."

"I'll keep trying till I'm dead." Percy breathed hard, using Riptide to steady his weak legs.

"You already are. If you die now, you'll be gone. Forever."

That struck a nerve. Percy looked up. Tantalus stood a distance away, his sword held steady, pointing to the ground. He looked sympathetic.

"Did Hades not tell you? You can die once in the mortal world, and your spirit will be sent here. But die here, as difficult as that is, yet possible, and your spirit is erased permanently."

"No...you told me, I have all the time."

"I said you had time, not the life. Why do you think Hades had to go to the Styx? You thought it was because he killed Sisyphus? No. He resurrected your soul, and in that, he broke the Ancient Laws."

"No!" Percy roared. "He's the god of the dead. He can bring back the souls. It's within his sphere of influence." His voice grew weaker with every word. It sounded as though he were trying to comfort himself. How would he tell Nico, assuming that Percy survived this fight, that his father had sacrificed himself to save him?

"I'm afraid not." Tantalus' expression was full of pity.

Don't listen to him, a voice in his mind argued, he's lowering your guard, he has no sympathy for you. This is what he wants.

"What would happen if you died forever?" Tantalus pressured. "Think of your family, friends..."

"Think of Hestia."

* * *

It was at those words that time stood still. It seemed as though the lava stopped churning, and the hill behind stopped rumbling, the falling rocks stopped crashing onto the surface, the acidic wind stopped hissing.

Tantalus looked at the demigod with concealed satisfaction, whose eyes were hidden behind his hair. His form, which was once solid, or more solid than any soul he'd seen, started to fade, becoming more and more transparent.

"Join us." He said, taking a step forward. He knew he was convinced. H _is fatal flaw, loyalty, so simple to exploit,_  he thought.

In the next instant, the demigod had thrown himself forward, brandishing his sword forward.

 _Hmm, not what I expected, but predictable nonetheless,_  the king thought. As quick as his thoughts were in reaction to Perseus' sudden aggression, he had raised his blade in the direction to block his strike.

Typical to try something sneaky like this, Tantalus told himself, his demigod mind is so easy to read.

Or so he thought.

* * *

Percy held his right arm at bay, instead first slamming his fist into Tantalus' chest. The latter stumbled back, clearly unexpecting the punch. Taking advantage of his momentary unbalance, Percy lunged forward and slashed at the other soul's sword arm.

A wail of agony pierced the cavern. A severed arm holding a blade dropped to the ground, ethereal, pale and transparent blood pouring from the slashed joint.

Anger flashed in Percy's eyes as he stood over the king's defenceless state.

"Thanks did the tip, Tantalus. I did think of Hestia." With that, Percy plunged Riptide into Tantalus' chest, having a fleeting moment of pity for the blessed ruler who once had the privileges of dining with the gods, but threw that all away from his greed.

"Rest in peace, Tantalus." Percy capped Riptide.

Then he turned to Nico and saw he was crumpled on the floor. "Nico!"

He sprinted to the son of Hades' side and looked at his face. He checked for a pulse. Thank gods, he was still alive.

"Nico." The demigod opened his eyes slowly.

"What...happened?" Percy heaved a sigh of relief. He didn't seem to be insane.

"We did it. We defeated Tantalus."

"No, I mean, where is she?"

"Where is who?"

Nico looked around, with a confused expression. "Bianca. We were in New York, just the two of us at McDonald's. We were eating. Everything was so peaceful and happy."

Percy was silent for a count of three. Of course he was thinking about Bianca. Why wouldn't he? "It was just an illusion, Nico. I'm sorry." Percy put a hand on his shoulder.

Nico was quiet for a while, before saying, "It felt so real. It didn't feel like a dream, the type I usually have. I...I wish I could go back. Go back, to the way...the way it was-"

Percy didn't even realise Nico was sobbing until he saw tears leak down his cheeks.


	20. The First War

Chapter 20: The First War

"For the last time, Eurylas," Gaia hissed, "what happened in the throne room?"

The Giant quavered before his mother's gaze. His eyes strayed to the stone ground of the cavern, and his hands trembled profusely. He could feel the heat radiating from Gaia, the pure anger he had caused.

"I was too quick. I began the ambush too...early." He said meekly.

"Was the plan I had given to you not clear enough?" She punctuated her last three words with every breath she drew.

Eurylas remained silent.

The Earth Mother, in her humanoid form, turned around and sighed. In the next instant, she shot out her hand and roots grew from her hands. They wrapped themselves around Eurylas' limbs, and started pulsing with green light, as though they were absorbing something.

"No!" The Giant struggled, but his voice and movements grew weaker with every pulse. Soon, the light faded from his eyes, and his lifeless body froze into stone. With one lash, the roots smashed the rocks into the ground, which rose up to swallow it.

Gaia retracted the tendrils and took a breath. "Aphrodite."

The goddess appeared immediately. "Yes mother?"

"Tell the forces to retreat. Our attack has failed, because of Eurylas' mistake."

"But mother, the gods are still distraught. They cannot help the demigods."

"They will recover soon enough. We have to cut back our losses. Hopefully, we have taken enough casualties to hinder their morale."

"Very well. And what of our two prisoners?"

"Keep them safe and well. They pose a large importance to our plans, which cannot be affected anymore."

Aphrodite nodded and disappeared again.

* * *

Jake Mason parried another strike with his hatchet. He rolled to the side to dodge an axe swing and swung his own axe at the Earthborn's stomach. With a groan, the monster crumbled into stone.

He looked around, the afternoon sun scorching his forehead. The forces were still advancing. His squadron of about 30 demigods, the Hephaestus, Athena, and minor gods cabins, were being pushed back to the tree, where the Golden Fleece was kept. For the first time, the fleece served no protection towards the invaders. They must have been impervious to its magic.

The dragon guardian, Peleus, let out a roar and a breath of flames towards the oncoming enemies, but Jake could tell even he was getting worn down by the never ending swarm of monsters.

Traps of Greek fire and tripwires placed by his cabin and the Hermes kids brought down a few enemies, but more replaced them. The Cyclops and Briares, reinforcements by lord Poseidon, threw boulder after boulder at the wave of creatures. The demigods fought relentlessly, but it wasn't enough.

"Retreat! Fall back!" Jake roared, gesturing wildly. The demigods turned around and ran like hell was following them, which technically was the situation.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of whistling arrows. From the trees, silver flashes launched themselves into the monsters. Howls pierced the air as the dracanae warriors and Earthborn fell.

_The Hunters,_ Jake thought. _Thank gods._

The surprise gave Jake and his team enough time to fall back and regroup. He saw Thalia Grace vault down from a tree and group up with them.

"You guys alright?" Thalia asked.

"Sort of." Jake replied.

"My hunters will hold back as much as they can. You guys have been fighting for what, the entire morning?"

He nodded, recounting the huge tremor that shook the entire camp awake, followed by the sound of war drums and roars.

"What about the strawberry fields? Are they holding up?" Malcolm asked. Him and Jake seemed to be the only two bold enough to speak to a Hunter. The rest of the campers didn't dare make eye contact.

"The nature spirits and the Demeter kids were doing fine when we showed up. We were more concerned about your side, since the main force of the army is here."

"And the east and west?"

"Doing alright."

"Great." Jake looked back and saw the army charging forward, now recovering from the initial shock.

"Better get back to fighting." Thalia drew her bow. "You guys should recover first. Retrieve any bodies of the fallen. Take some ambrosia. When you're ready, get back to fighting. This war's only beginning."

And with that cheerful sentence, the Hunter jumped onto a tree and out of sight.

* * *

The Olympian council were still recuperating from their trance like state, and the ambush by the Giants, which seemed to had failed. Perhaps the most shocking thing was the appearance of the traitor, Aphrodite.

But with the help of some ambrosia and nectar, and Poseidon to recount their lost memories and provide up-to-date information on the dire situation, things would improve.

Or so the king of Olympus, Zeus himself, would hope. The last month was a blur. From the disappearance of Ares' spawn, Ares himself, Hestia and the traitor, Aphrodite, to the summer solstice approaching rapidly in just five more days, the god of the skies could not shake an uneasy premonition, that Olympus would come under another war soon.

The Iris-message from Chiron came just as Zeus awoke from what felt was a slumber lasting eternity. When he did awake, despite the rapid explanation of events from the centaur, a small voice in his head gave another reason, saying that the aftermath of the Titan War had taken a toll on the powers of the gods and had thus caused their sudden coma, as the mortals call them. It was not a direct message outright, but more of a implanted memory.

Of course, now that Zeus had a clear mind to ponder over this, the memories were fake and most likely produced by Aphrodite.

He took another bite of ambrosia and listened intently to Poseidon. As much as his differences between the two proved for some uneasiness in their relationship, the dawning war upon Olympus called for a mutual truce, to put aside any petty quarrels, and work together to overcome the second Gigantomachy.

Poseidon said, "I presume that the ambush devised was mistimed. The Giants had originally planned to attack only after I entered the throne room, since they assumed I would attempt to free you all, which I was. But the Giant and his small force failed, seeing as we are all standing here-"

"Which then prompted Aphrodite to appear." Finished Athena. The other gods' expressions darkened at the name.

"A good thing our powers were still usable to fight them off." Hephaestus muttered. He sounded rather uncomfortable, seeing as Aphrodite was his, if it could not be more obvious, unloving wife. He thought the rest would not trust him, but he was glad  
that was not the case.

"At any rate, we do know that the camp is being attacked. I've sent my armies to help, and hopefully..." Poseidon drew a shaky breath. "It will be sufficient."

Zeus noted the tone of frustration in his brother's voice. He knew he should be fighting with the camp, to defend the demigods, as should all of the Olympians, but alas, their powers were not amply restored to assist.

Furthermore, Zeus could sense that Poseidon was still coping with the death of his son.

Perseus Jackson was a touchy topic for Zeus. He never liked the spawn, but he did not despise him either. As troubling and annoying the demigod was, Zeus grudgingly knew he, along with Olympus, owed Perseus a debt too large to repay.

But now that the news of Perseus' death has reached the ears of the camp and Olympus, he knew that the morale and confidence was severely damaged.

"Thank you, brother." Zeus said. The god in question bowed his head respectfully, and returned to his throne.

"So what do we do now? Our kids need our help! We can't just sit around." Apollo growled, clearly distressed.

"We will help, once we've recovered. All of us will help." Zeus reassured his son.

"It should be any moment now." Hera commented, frowning as she examined her hand.

Zeus silently agreed. He could feel his power regenerating, slowly but surely. The electricity that crackled through his veins, after a week of unuse. It felt like power returning to a city after a blackout.

Then, a surge of energy flooded his mind. He stood up, as did the other gods, simultaneously.

No words were needed. The Olympians, as one, disappeared into flashes of light.

* * *

They say a battlefield is nothing but the cause of rage, and that emotion is what makes it live, and all the blood spilled is from fury. They say a battlefield is nothing but anger.

But once the carnage has stepped back, however it ends, when silence has settled over the bodies of the fallen, it becomes human again. You hear the sobs of the comrades for their dead friends. You hear the trudging of boots through the mud to retrieve the corpses for burial and shrouds. You hear the swishing sound of the bodies being dragged over the soil. You can feel the sadness, the pain of loss, the melancholy. The broken souls of the living.

Demigods were strewn throughout half-blood hill, which from its former beauty of lush green grass covering it, now reduced to barrenness. Some were tending to the wounded, nestled under white tents with nectar and ambrosia, others were hugging the lifeless bodies of their half-brothers, half-sisters and friends.

The wails of sorrow, the silent tears, each demigod or nature spirit grieved in its own way. They shed tears for the 20 demigods and many other spirits who fell in battle.

Among the fallen were Travis Stoll, who had taken an arrow meant for Katie Gardner, the co-head counsellor of the Hephaestus cabin, Nyssa Barrera, and others. Grover Underwood, leader of the council of Cloven Elders, had sacrificed his life to strengthen  
the plants in order to fend off the invaders and kill a Lythian Drakon. His reincarnation as a laurel was tenderly held by the spirits to be regrown in the forests.

Chiron, the centaur, trod around in a daze of grief, helping anyone he could, yet at the same time couldn't hold back his sadness.

And this was the scene the Olympians appeared onto with full armour donned and weapons brandished, the size of trucks.

All eyes were focused on them, their gods and parents, the ones they looked to for help, but they didn't. The battle was over, and they hadn't lifted a finger. No one bowed, no one knelt, everyone continued with their tasks.

Their expressions were of fury, then confusion, then shock.

"What happened?" Zeus was the first to speak up.

"It's over." Chiron replied hoarsely. "They left abruptly. They knew you were coming."

At this, their weapons were lowered, as well as their heads. For once, they looked...human.

A flash of light, and all of them shrunk down to human size. Apollo immediately ran to assist the wounded with his children, and the rest looked for their respective offspring. Artemis met up with her Hunters.

The demigods, for once, didn't treat them like gods. They acknowledged their presence, but didn't give them a wide berth, they made eye contact with their parents. The gods, for once, didn't think of themselves as gods. They treated them like their children, and themselves as parents, like how they should have, for a long, long time.

* * *

The setting sun over Long Island Sound did nothing to improve Katie's mood. Usually she found solace in the sun's warmth. The orange light that bathed her skin and the waters beneath didn't help.

The day had been blurry. She had faint recollections of the bodies burned under the same shroud of the Olympian flag, with the help of the Olympians. Then she'd stumbled here.

She liked it here. Maybe it was because she could see the sound and the strawberry fields at the same time, or maybe it was because this was the spot she and Travis had spent most of their time since their relationship had began.

More tears spilt down her cheeks. She rubbed them away with the hem of her shirt.

She watched the strawberry fields emotionlessly. She could sense their feelings. They were in mourning, like the rest of nature, for the disasters that had occurred today. They looked better than normal. Perhaps it was due to Grover's sacrifice.

Sacrifice.

That word sparked the memory she had been trying so hard to burn, but before she knew it she was lost in her memories.

_"Katie! We need to leave!" One of her half-siblings shouted at her._

_"But the spirits! They're gonna die!" Katie shrugged off her pull and ran forward._

_"KATIE!" She ignored the call and waved her hand forward. Vines sprouted forward and entangled a wave of dracanae._

_It was at this moment she heard the draw of a bow. She didn't know how, the battlefield was burning with shouts, roars and cries, but the sound of the taut string had never sounded clearer._

_She turned and saw a Empousai archer, her bow facing her heart. She shot her arrow._

_A dark figure leapt forward in front of her at the last second. The arrow pierced whoever it was directly in the chest. He screamed._

_Katie woke up from her daze of surviving her brush with death and launched a vine at the archer who shrieked._

_She dragged the body back, yelling, "MEDIC!"_

_Once they reached a safe cover, she turned him over, and her heart stopped._

_"Travis!" She cried. "My gods, where's the ambrosia?" She rummaged around in her pack._

_"Don't...don't bother." He coughed up blood. "Right through my heart."_

_"Don't say that, you're going to be fine." Her eyes brimmed with tears._

_"Listen, Katie. I don't have much time left." His chest was heaving up and down rapidly._

_"I love you, and I always have, but you have a war to fight. They need a leader to lead them. This isn't a drama, so leave me here to die, go and fight." Travis said, drawing breaths between every word._

_Katie sobbed, but she knew that she had to lead. She kissed him. "I love you." And she left._

"Katie?"

"Travis?" She turned around in hope, and it shattered. "Oh, hi Connor."

The other twin didn't look well. He'd obviously been crying. The tears still stained his face.

Connor sat down wordlessly, and the two sat in silence for a while before he spoke up. "It was my fault."

Katie turned to him. "It wasn't. It's mine."

He shook his head. "You don't get it. It happened before the war."

He sighed. "I'm sure he told you about this before, but Travis and I had a pair of boots."

"Yeah, the gift from your dad."

"That's the one. It could only be used once, to travel to anyplace on the world. We didn't know how to use it, so we've kept it. But this morning, Travis woke up panting. He was sweating heavily. He said he had a dream, that you were going to be in huge  
danger today. I told him it was fake. But he didn't believe me, he took the boots. I said it wasn't real. We got into a fight because of it."

"So he wished that he was beside me, in that moment."

"He must have."

Katie was quiet. It seemed like something he would do, something so risky and life threatening and incredibly crazy.

"It should have been me. I made that mistake of wanting to save the nature spirits. And because of that..."

"I just wish-" she choked up. "I wished he were here." She buried her head into Connor's shoulder, sobbing.

Connor stared at the water churning beneath them. "Me too." He wiped away more tears.

"Me too."

* * *

Percy always knew the Fates hated him, but this was just over the line.

After having Nico break down in front of him and having no words to comfort him, the two of them continued on their journey. However, unlike the last journey from Sisyphus to Tantalus which lasted for about ten minutes, the walk to the next challenger  
had been going on for what felt like eternity.

Just when it could not be more awkward between the two. Percy always knew Nico didn't want to seem weak to other people, and the fact they were walking with no words exchanged between the two was the epitome of awkwardness.

_Oh hey Nico, what did you see in your vision? Oh, your dead sister you still miss? Shame._

Ironically, Percy couldn't wait for the next enemy to show up so at least the awkwardness would disappear.

Other than that on his mind, Percy was still concerned about the...what did Hades call it, the Doors of Death? He said Nico knew the key, and so far, they didn't have any key, and Percy doubted he should bring that topic up after the earlier events.

Suddenly, the ground shook. Percy and Nico dropped to the ground and held on. What was going on?

Like an invisible knife, the stone floor split cleanly into sections, opening up to reveal magma churning beneath. Some large chunks halved and quartered and arranged themselves perfectly, into what seemed like...

A labyrinth.

A clear laugh echoed from the front.

"Welcome, son of Poseidon and son of Hades." A masculine voice said. It sounded like it was coming from the ceiling.

Nico snarled. "Traitor!" As though he recognised that voice.

"Nico, who..." Percy's voice trailed off as he saw the speaker standing atop a huge pillar. The pillar started to lower himself, and Percy had a good look of him, and knew who he was.

A bronze crown atop his head, a sceptre in his hand, a torn and tattered purple cloak draped around him, completed with lacklustre jewellery and pockmarked features, the most infamous king of Crete, son of Zeus, and judge of the Underworld, Minos, stood before them, smiling broadly.

* * *

 


	21. Chapter 21: The Malice Within

Chapter 21: The Malice Within

"I must say I'm impressed." Minos admitted, "I never expected the two of you to defeat Tantalus. But here you are."

"And like the other two, we'll kill you as well." Percy replied.

"Granted, that's a possibility. You may defeat me. You may be able to defeat the other two. You may be able to find the key. You may be able to unlock the Doors. But at the end of the day, your efforts are fruitless. You cannot stop the Earth Mother. To her, you are another gnat for her to crush. Tell me, Perseus Jackson, how would you defeat the very thing you stand upon?"

"The same way we defeated the two spirits empowered by Tartarus. And the same way we'll defeat you." He shot back.

Minos threw back his head and roared with laughter. "Admirable courage, demigod. But no, you will not defeat me. You will defeat my creation."

"The Labyrinth?" Nico snorted. "Been there, done that."

"You confuse my creation with the cursed work of the wretched inventor, Daedalus." Minos spat.

"Don't you dare call Daedalus wretched!" Percy gripped his sword tightly. Minos smiled at Percy's anger.

"No, my Labyrinth is far more dangerous."

"It's not your Labyrinth. Daedalus made it. You forced him to." Percy shouted indignantly.

Minos ignored the accusation. "My spirit is tied to this. Try as you might, but you will not be able to kill me with physical contact. To defeat me, you must defeat the Labyrinth."

"So what, we tear it down brick by brick? I'd love that." Nico said.

"You can try, but your real objective lies in trickery and deception. You must fool the Labyrinth. It will guess and assume your decisions. Your job is to be as unpredictable as possible, but fail, and the Labyrinth will kill you."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"I swear on the River Styx, my instructions and words are true."

Percy couldn't tell whether thunder rumbled. The shifting stone of the Labyrinth's walls might have drowned it out, or Minos' oath was false. Could a spirit blessed by Tartarus still hold to an oath on the Styx?

He looked at Minos cautiously, but was unable to look past his amiable expression.

"Well, demigods?" Minos prompted. "Do we have a deal?"

Percy was silent. Nico took a step forward. "Fine, we'll play."

The king smiled broadly and extended his arms as though he were addressing his subjects. "Excellent! Let the games begin!"

At those words, the ghost of Minos faded, the walls of the Labyrinth groaned and rose, and the lava hardened into rock.

"Well, here goes nothing." Percy looked at Nico, who shrugged, and the two plunged into the darkness that lay ahead.

* * *

"Hestia?" Annabeth shook the sleeping form of the goddess.

She shook slightly, and stirred. "Annabeth?" She said drowsily. "Where are we?"

"Prison, sort of. I dropped from above into here, where you already were."

"How long was I out?"

"I don't know. My watch is broken. Must be some iron around. Messes the magnets up."

She sighed. "Gods, I'm sorry. This is all my fault."

"It's fine. We couldn't have known they had set up a trap."

"No, it's not that."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Aphrodite tricked me. Again."

She drew a breath. "When I was first captured and released by Clytius, after Percy...died, I thought I felt Aphrodite leave me, and I was in control."

"Let me guess, she didn't."

Hestia shook her head sadly. "She heard everything. She's been spying through me all this while."

"Oh."

Annabeth was silent for a while. She wasn't sure whether to fume at herself or Hestia.

"How much could she have eavesdropped?"

Hestia threw her arms in the air. "I don't know. She knew about our plan, about me recovering my powers..."

"Everything I've done or seen, she's seen it. I don't know how much damage I've done, Annabeth. If more people die because of my mistake...I wouldn't be able to bear it."

"Is she still listening now?"

"It wouldn't matter. We're near Gaia's heart, right? She can probably hear us. But if it helps, I don't think she's here."

_Hopefully,_  the two thought.

"Maybe she will if we leave, but for now..."

"Don't think about it." Annabeth said half-heartedly.

An awkward silence passed between the two.

"So...what do we do now?" Annabeth asked.

"Doesn't seem like we can escape. Guess all we can do is wait for our impending doom." Hestia said dryly.

Annabeth looked at Hestia. Her eyes were empty with resignation to their fate. She wanted to say something along the lines, like "there's always a way out" or something heroic and inspiring, but she remained quiet. Maybe they really had no hope.

* * *

Hestia had heard stories, about people bathing in the Styx, or touching lava. They said it wasn't instantly agonising. When they first touch the superheated liquid, it's so hot that the nerves register it as coldness. It's ice cold at first contact, but the next instant it's causing the skin to beg for mercy.

This was a pretty accurate analogy to her current feelings. When she'd found out that Aphrodite never really left, there was an initial shock, the first startle at the burning cold, but the more she thought about it, the burn pained more and more.

How would it feel like, to have an outside entity, listen in and feel everything you've done for the past weeks? To put it into technogical terms for mortals, it was as though a wireless earpiece had been installed in her ears and brain, and cameras in her eyes. Her entire body hacked by a goddess, how was she supposed to function? Every thought and thing she'd done, heard, saw, smelled, someone else knew about it.

Goosebumps appeared on her skin. She shivered. She crossed her legs and hugged them tightly, not daring to make eye contact with the demigod beside her. She knew it was ridiculous to think that Annabeth would mean any harm, but she couldn't help it. She just wanted to be alone and feel secure, but even that was impossible.

_Percy_.

It was a completely random thought. Why she suddenly thought of him, she wasn't sure. Then she realised why.

She was cold. She was scared. There was no campfire next to her, there was no light, there was no Percy. And without him, she didn't know what to do. Did she really want to submit entirely to Gaia and her Giants? Percy wouldn't do that. He'd keep trying over and over again.

But she wasn't sure. She couldn't conceive a single plan that would work. She could feel eyes watching her. Gaia, Aphrodite, she was being monitored. Escape was practically impossible. The air around her was heavy, not just physically, but magically. Teleportation was out because of this.

The only question she had was: If they were not taking any chances, using any advantage they had to its fullest potential, why was Annabeth and her still alive?

* * *

Percy always enjoyed playing games. He was a teenager. He appreciated the occasional shooter on his mom's old computer. He really looked forward to family game nights with Monopoly and Scrabble.

But this was a entirely different type of game. Instead of being the millionaire controlling properties, he was the poor top hat being moved by unseen forces with distance determined by rolling die. He was the minion.

Throughout his adventures, he'd been played for. He endured the embarrassment of that water ride back when he was fourteen and helping out Ares. He'd battled an arena for Luke's pleasure.

But this Labyrinth was beyond evil. The walls stretched on endlessly and seemed to go thirty feet into the air. The path in front of him was obscure due to the dark mist limiting his vision to roughly five feet. He was essentially blind.

Not to mention the chilly feeling of being watched. He knew Minos was watching him and Nico, somehow. Anytime Minos could simply strike the two and they'd be dead, yet he didn't.

Percy found that disturbing. He was unsure of why he wasn't dead within the first minute of scouring the maze. The Giants and their armies were different from the Titans. The Titans were cocky and always assumed they had the upper hand, which led to their downfall. The Giants did not. They grasped at any opportunity they had, and never took chances. If they could kill a potential enemy, they would.

So what made this situation unique? Was it the Styx oath? Was Minos' attitude towards this war unlike his allies?

Those questions were left unanswered. Not that he could answer them anyways, because it was in that moment that he realised that he was alone.

"Nico?" His voice reverberated down the empty corridor. The echoes and the silence rushed back to meet him.

He froze as panic spread like frost. Drawing Riptide instinctively, he took a step forward.

And another.

And another. He, without thinking about it, counted each of his steps, as though the next one could open the ground into an abyss, or trigger a tripwire leading to an explosion.

_It will guess and assume your decisions. Your job is to be as unpredictable as possible._

Minos' words echoed in his head.

How was he supposed to do that? He had already lost Nico - whether it was to death or isolation was yet to be discovered, and fear was pounding in his heart. And the Labyrinth knew that.

He took another step and found his leg plunging down...but found it only to be a step.

He exhaled, his heartbeats gradually decreasing from its sudden rapid thuds against his chest.

But that fearful reaction was enough to confirm the Labyrinth's assumptions.

The next step, Percy found himself falling through the non-existent floor.

* * *

Nico wasn't sure what happened. One moment he was walking in front of Percy, with his Stygian iron blade illuminating the darkness, though not by that much, the next moment he was in a completely different area, at least that was what he felt. Even though nothing in his surroundings had changed. Darkness still reigned, and he was still stumbling blindly in what was supposed to be his domain.

There was a lurching in his stomach as he was teleported, the feeling that one got when taking a dive on a rollercoaster. The next thing he knew, the feeling had settled and Percy was gone when he looked back.

Uneasiness set in, but Nico forced it back. He knew the Labyrinth would manipulate any sense of fear he possessed. He only hoped Percy, wherever he was, dead or alive, knew the same.

"You can come out now," he spoke to the Labyrinth, his voice unwavering.

He sensed it. Like a hidden viper uncoiling to spring onto its prey, it emerged from the darkness.

"Nico de Angelo." The Labyrinth enunciated each syllable clearly. It's voice had a smooth baritone to it. It reminded Nico of the term "silky black". Was there an undertone of admiration? Nico couldn't tell.

"So I've separated you from Perseus, yet I do not sense any fear, to your credit, I suppose." It sounded casual, as if this were a friendly conversation.

"I do not fear the shadows. I control them. You will bow to me." The ruthless tone was met with a minuscule moment of silence.

"Courageous, courageous." It responded amiably, apparently not at all affected by Nico's command. "But you'll have to do better than that, I'm afraid."

"You will lead me to Minos' heart, so we can end this."

"As much as you'd want me to, you can't. You haven't gained full control of me, nowhere near twisting and turning my tunnels to your comfort." Nico could sense its grim smile. "We're going to have some fun instead."

It pressed on before Nico could speak. "Let me show you something...shocking. Or perhaps not. You choose which emotion best describes what I'm about to show."

The darkness in front of him rippled. Colours brightened into existence, forming a shape of a human being. It was stumbling in the darkness, crying out random names. He thought he heard his among others. Behind him, on the walls, above and below - it didn't matter, everything was pitch black - faces appeared out of nothing, unable to be distinguished. They were laughing, maliciously. At this human daring to step into their domain.

Nico couldn't help it. His heart skipped a beat.

"Percy?" His voice quavered.

That was it.

The Labyrinth showed its face. Two triangular eyes of sanguine red, void of irises, and a mouth resembling that of a jack o lantern. Blood tipped the bone white teeth, spilling into the oblivion below.

It flashed a wicked grin.

And Nico lost consciousness.


	22. Conquer

Chapter 22: Conquer

Smoke drifted upwards in lazy fumes as dawn broke over the horizon. The shrouds were burned, the burials completed.

The gods and demigods were gathered in the amphitheatre. The demigods sat around it as usual, but on this occasion, their godly parents had joined them. Even the demigods that had joined the Hunters were located with their half-siblings, with no signs of disgruntlement. Heavy silence choked the air as much as the smoke, perhaps even more so.

Demeter laid her hand around the shoulder of the Katie Gardner, whose tear stained face was hidden behind her olive hair. Hermes was consoling Connor Stoll, who seemed to be in equal despair. The father didn't do much good at holding back his emotions.

Artemis gazed at the remnants of her Hunters' shrouds emotionlessly, or so it would seem. Her once piercing blue eyes had lost their sharpness, and her hands were, for once, trembling.

Dionysus clutched the hand of his remaining son, Pollux, tightly. His eyes darted around like a jaguar, yet they were filled with sadness. He thrust out his free hand and a bottle of wine began to form, then he made a fist. The bottle disappeared.

And so on...

Thalia Grace picked at her bowstring, bags under her eyes from exhaustion. She looked to her right, at her father.

The lord of Olympus was faring no better than his relatives. His back was arched from the lack of a throne, his arms drummed the concrete seats of the amphitheatre dejectedly, his face spoke levels of emotions, none of which were positive.

But he knew, he was a leader. A king. And curse him to Tartarus if he hid when everyone needed him the most.

He rose up. Thalia jerked back abruptly in surprise. Everyone watched the Olympian king in his Bermuda shorts and t-shirt as he walked down the steps wordlessly.

He raised his hand. Lightning struck the shrouds, relentlessly, bolt after bolt, until it was reduced to cinders. He stepped onto the platform. His feet burned from the ashes, but he didn't care. It was time he experienced hardship again.

He could feel the eyes of everyone staring at him. His brother, his sister, his wife, his sons and daughters, his half-blooded relatives.

He cleared his throat, and spoke.

"I know, I have not been a good leader." He started. "I have made mistakes, and I have chosen pride over justice. I have failed in being a good father." He looked at Thalia.

"I have failed in my duties as king of Olympus, and one of those duties, was to protect the godly family, and all mortals, from those who seek to do us harm."

"And now, we stand before our fallen heroes. Those who have sacrificed themselves because of my arrogance. I failed to foresee this, and take the required actions to prevent the Giants' uprising."

"But I say we do not let their deaths be in vain. I will not let their ghosts be left eternally restless. They will enter Elysium as heroes, and know that we, that I, that all of us, have conquered the forces that wish to end our reign."

"If I or my brothers and sisters end up in oblivion, so be it. But I pray that you will join me in the final battle."

There was a moment of tense silence. One second passed. Two, three.

Then the amphitheatre erupted into a thunderous roar. Everyone jumped to their feet. The sound must have carried on over Long Island Sound, across New York City. The ground and heavens shook, and the Giants, wherever they were, heard their pain, heard their grief, but most clear of all...

They heard their rage.

* * *

"That sucked." Percy tried to sound humoured, but he could tell that did nothing to lighten the mood. The two had found themselves in the same room, falling from the ceiling.

He could barely see Nico's pale face with what little light they had. He looked visibly shaken, but he might as well be looking into a mirror.

The Labyrinth won that round. Percy wasn't sure whether he could handle another.

Nico didn't reply to the comment. Instead, he found interest in scrutinising his sword as the two sat on the cold floor.

"I'm curious to why they haven't killed us yet." Nico said bluntly.

"The Labyrinth is its own entity. It likes fun and games. Maybe it's not taking orders from Gaia to kill us on sight." Percy answered, though much of it was speculation.

"But once we step out beyond that door..."

"It begins again."

Percy stared at the door in question. It looked ordinary. A wooden body with steel hinges and brackets. A rusty handle.

He exhaled. He didn't want to go out, and he was pretty sure Nico didn't either. But sooner or later, they would have to. They were on a timer, weren't they? To finish this. Opening the Doors so souls could enter the Underworld again.

"Whenever you're ready." Was all Percy said. He looked down at the son of Hades.

Nico looked down at his feet, his hair blocking his expression. He got up and held his blade tightly.

"Don't be a coward and ditch me like the last time." The edges of his face curled into a smile.

Percy readied Riptide, grinning. Then it morphed back into a serious expression. He opened the door, and the two charged into the Labyrinth once again.

* * *

Cold fear hit them like a gale the second they stepped out.

Nico heard voices in his head. He drove them back whilst pushing on. Percy was evidently having trouble as well, his face twisted into a mix of fear and anger.

The voices were many, some familiar, some unidentifiable.

_You are no prince of darkness, or the underworld,_ one hissed. _Nothing but a shadow of your father._

_You will remain an outcast from your demigod brethren,_ another whispered.

_You should have saved your sister,_  the last lamented.

Nico's knees suddenly felt weak. Suddenly that voice became much more clear, all others slowly faded. He heard it with such terrifying clarity.

_I can give you Bianca again._

His legs gave way. He fell to the ground. He hit his head repeatedly, shouting hoarsely, "Go away. She's gone. She's gone!"

He shut his eyes as tears spilled from them. He saw her. Alive. Vigour and soul flowed endlessly in her cheeks. She was wearing her cap, not yet a Hunter. She waved at him, smiling. She beckoned him, closer.

"No!" He screamed, his eyes flying open. Then he saw what lay ahead in front of him.

Ghosts. They were unfamiliar to him, grey and voided of expression. Their lifeless eyes gazed through him, to his very soul. They had no mouth. They stretched their arms to him.

A howling sound of the spirits filled his ears in an unholy cacophony. He could feel their anguish and the pure terror they radiated.

_Join us,_  they seemed to say.

Then, out of nowhere, he felt his blade snatched up. A flash of dark grey, and the spirits dissolved with a enraged hiss. At the same time, the howling and the voices dissipated.

He looked up. It was Percy, holding Nico's sword. He was breathing hard. His face was stained with tears, but his eyes were blazing with fury. He was staring at where the ghosts had been with raw anger. Nico was almost scared of him. He'd never seen Percy this angry before.

Then Percy looked at him. The expression melted into concern. "You alright?" He asked, extending a hand.

Nico took it and lifted himself to his feet. "Yeah." He managed to say.

"Let's keep going." Percy said.

He nodded. "But first, my sword."

"Oh, right, sorry." He handed the weapon over. Nico took it in silence.

"What did you hear?" He asked.

Percy remained expressionless. "Things I would rather never hear again."

And the two kept walking.

* * *

It wasn't even an hour, or what felt like an hour, when the second attack emerged.

Percy thought he was prepared, but it was sort of like taking a test, you think you studied enough, and then you see the first question and you're already saying your prayers.

When the ghosts appeared; pale, translucent beings, howling with no mouth, fixating with no eyes, the next instant, they attacked like frostbite.

Whispers trailed quickly, pounding in Percy's mind, and just like the rest, brought him to his knees.

_Your quest is meaningless._

_Gaia will consume all._

_You cannot save the ones you love._

He yelled in pain, grasping at his head. Images flashed through his mind. Pictures of people. His mom, Grover, Chiron, Poseidon, Annabeth, Hestia.

In a daze, through blurry vision, he saw Nico in a similar state: keeled over, covering his ears violently, eyes shut.

"Nico! Your - your sword!" He gasped.

He didn't seem to have heard it, but abruptly, the pain stopped, and Nico flopped on the ground like a rag doll.

"Nico? What happened?" Percy clawed at the ground. His head still throbbed.

He didn't respond. His body lay still. Then it shivered, and Percy didn't think it was the cold.

One moment passed. Then two. Then three. And all of a sudden, Nico slowly got to his feet. He still wasn't facing him. In silence, he drew his sword in unnerving calmness.

"Nico?" His voice trembled.

"Sorry, Percy. I made a deal." Nico spoke hollowly, with no trace of emotion.

He pointed the blade at Percy's head.

"What are you talking about?"

"They'll give me Bianca." He responded.

"No, they won't. Nico, don't do this."

"Hush, we have an audience." He gestured to something behind Percy. He turned.

The ghosts were still there, radiating cold, making noises like teeth chattering in a blizzard.

"Take us to Minos. If he will not serve Gaia, he is at your disposal." He said.

Percy looked up at Nico's face. They were devoid of any emotion, but it was the void of feelings that horrified Percy.

He heard a rumbling sound. He turned back to see what looked like a tunnel, it looked darker than the walls that were already pitch black, however that made sense.

"Nico-" he started weakly.

The next second, Nico had vaulted over Percy, his blade flashing. There was a symphonic wail of agony as the ghosts faded.

"Percy! Now!" Nico shouted, dragging Percy's arm. They ran into the tunnel.

Darkness reigned as even Nico's sword gave no illumination, and he could not hear footsteps, or anything for that matter. It was as though they were traveling in a vacuum.

The lack of sound was not for long when a sudden roar shook their surroundings. It was rage. Pure rage.

A light at the end appeared, but it was closing fast. Behind them, he heard sounds comparable to chomping. Something behind them was eating the matter, and Percy didn't want to be in its jaws.

The light grew thinner as Minos closed the tunnel, and thicker as they neared it.

A last leap, and the two landed in a room decorated with crystals that blasted sapphire light. And in the centre lay a stone altar, held up by a single pillar, and a platform above it, on which lay the heart of Minos.

It was a cube made of metal and rock, with cerulean lines carving around until it formed an intricate pattern. The Labyrinth. It expanded and contracted intermittently.

Percy didn't have much time to scan every inch of it, since Nico immediately lunged forward with his blade and stabbed it with ferocity. The Stygian iron cut through the rock like a knife through warm butter, and around them, there was a scream of agony. The ceiling above them began to shake. Rocks started to fall. Crystals smashed themselves to dust.

Before Percy could react, Nico grabbed his hand and shadows dissolved around them.

* * *

They reappeared over cracked, stony ground. The air was burning hot, but Percy didn't care. The ground was solid and coloured a maroon brown. He no longer shivered from the cold. Light from the magma seeping through the cracks was, for once, inviting and vigourous.

He looked around. In the distance, he saw the crumbling ruins of the Labyrinth, feeling a moment of satisfaction.

"Nice." He panted. "How'd you know it would work?"

Nico shrugged casually, but his expression was fatigued. "There were shadows, so it worked."

Percy briefly tried to recall whether shadows were cast by the light from Nico's blade, but then decided against it. Better to forget everything about that place.

"Listen, about earlier..." Nico said, looking down.

"You did what you had to do, and it worked." Percy affirmed.

Nico shuffled uncomfortably. "Sorry if I scared you."

"Well, you're a good actor. That's all we'll say about that, alright?"

He grinned. "Three down, two to go."

* * *

_Ampurias, Spain..._

Asterius took another chomp of fresh seagull as he eyed the Mediterranean coast with zero regard. He retched and spat out the beak.

"Better roasted." He muttered at no one in particular.

Then he heard a loud boom coming from beneath him. He turned around to see Porphyrion rising from the earth.

"My lord." He bowed. "What brings you here to the shrine?"

"Mother has ordered me to inform the Guardians to ready yourselves." He sounded bitter. Asterius resisted a grin of satisfaction at seeing his leader carrying out such a low task.

"Of course." He bowed again, though not as deep.

He turned to face the horizon again, and he raised his hands. He started to murmur an ancient chant. The ground started to shake.

The sand scattered as something rose out of the ground. It looked like a pillar. Then the sand cleared, and he grinned.

It was a cage, constructed of steel with vines entwined around. Its prisoners were shivering from the cold, with little to protect them but their body heat. Their eyes were shut and tears stained their camp clothing.

"Greetings once again, spawn of Ares." He said. "Your time of use has come."


	23. End Approaching

Turns out, their next Empowered showed himself before Percy and Nico even walked five minutes, or rather, his horses did.

Barely had Nico heard the distinct sound of clopping hooves that grew hair-raisingly close did he push Percy to the side, just as streaks of purple fire whipped the ground where they had just stepped on.

Instantly, the heat seared Nico's face, like someone had pressed a cattle brand against his skin. He gritted through the pain and hauled himself and Percy to his feet, who appropriately opted for action and lack of words. He could see Riptide already springing to full length as they got up. Nico had his blade out as well.

The beasts were nothing but black spots in the distance of the barren plain, but they seemed to be getting closer.

Nico was about to hold his sword out when the fiery equestrians, in the blink of an eye, disappeared into ultraspeed.

In the next instant, the horses reappeared, legs stretched, leaping over the two, which forced the two onto the ground, as though the sheer heat was repelling them.

Looking back, Nico made out a foggy shape of a man through the ashen smoke. He was holding his hands up like a priest, but he could see something slithering down his hands: long tendrils.

Just as the man pulled his hands backwards, Nico rolled out of the way. So did Percy, just as the whips lashed at them, tearing through the smoke like fangs ripping flesh, striking the ground and leaving searing marks.

They got on their feet. The smoke was rising upwards, revealing their attacker.

He was dressed in a toga, with a blood-red cloth draped around his right shoulder. His hair was close cropped, and he was cleanly shaved.

In both his hands, he held two whips that blazed with uncontrolled fury and engulfed a thin leather body, like those of a traditional whip used on cattle, and in this case, the equestrians.

Somehow, despite the unknown and generic face of a Greek king, a name flickered within Percy's brain. Maybe the whips gave it away, but it was more likely the horses, and the fact that there were 4 of them, all empowered with flames.

"Diomedes." He said without thinking. The horses reared as though they recognised their master's name , flaring their muscled legs, scattering minor sparks. The king's mouth widened into a smile.

"Apologies. I'm not good with conversations." As soon as he finished his sentence, he struck his whips forward, sending two blasts of fire which trailblazed the parched earth, and his horses launched forward with lightning speed, snorting flames, murderous intent in their lifeless, beastly eyes.

Another burst of adrenaline coursed through Percy's veins as he leapt to the side whilst registering these minor details of the horses. The animals shot past and were ready to turn around for another strike, but Percy was ready with a plan he'd formulated the minute he'd seen the fiery attacks.

His power came naturally to him, as it always had. It was a long shot, unlikely that there would be a source around here, but he had to try. He held out his hand and automatically, it searched for water nearby. Underground water, vapour in the air, damp soil, nothing.

It seemed almost ironic that he was surprised. Why should he be? He was in the underworld, not just the underworld, but one which had been reduced to rubble just two or so days ago. Hell was nothing but a barren, lawless, wasteland of ghosts and creatures.

"Percy! Look out!" Nico screamed. His vision grew blurry, and yellow and red danced in his eyes, as he saw the unfocused figures of the horses racing back as he stood there, motionless.

Percy's hand jerked back as something triggered in his mind. Instinct. He wasn't sure how he did it. Last he saw was the fire just an arm's length from his face, before he dropped to the ground, the heat barely grazing his skin.

But he had to move. The horses would be charging again. And Nico knew that too, yet there was no time to think of a plan. The two had no communication, too busy trying to stay alive from the onslaught.

He got to his feet. He saw the horses moving towards him. He saw Diomedes standing between them, tossing fireballs here and there. Somehow he'd managed to miss them all.

After he'd dodged another round, exhaustion started to buckle his knees. His muscles were weakening. It wouldn't be long before he crumbled under the exertion on his legs. And the horses didn't seem to be tiring out.

No, he had to attack now.

"Nico! Now!" He shouted at the latter, as the horses approached rapidly. Thank the Fates, he understood. There was a millisecond of eye contact between the two demigods, and a mutual understanding was shared.

They both lunged at Diomedes, swords drawn, who definitely did not expect the sudden attack. Before the he could even react, the steel passed through the king's undead skin cleanly.

Diomedes' eyes widened, and he looked at Percy, shocked written all over his paling face. "Oh." Was his last word before he crumbled into dust. The whips' fire extinguished itself with a baleful hiss.

Percy could have celebrated, but he suddenly realised the horses were still right behind them, and still moving.

Pure, concentrated heat, as though it has came from the sun itself, surged and slammed against Percy's body. Immediately, fiery agony spread in the literal sense of wildfire. He screamed, as did Nico, who had also been hit by another horse, a raw, hoarse cry of pain.

As though the fire was burning his eyes, his sight was blackening at the edges. But just barely, through the last line of vision he had, he saw the four horses freezing in place, turning into stone. Their manes of fire went out as though a chilly wind had blown through the underworld.

And that was the last thing he saw before he blacked out from the pain.

* * *

_Awake._

The voice was soft and feminine. It sounded pleasant, like a symphony of meadows rustling and wind chimes twinkling in the morning breeze.

Percy stirred, groaning. The burn wound was reduced to a bearable throb, but his vision was still distorted. He blinked a couple of times before he stopped seeing double.

Before him stood a woman. She looked like one of the nymphs at camp half blood, with lush green hair, a serene face the colour of beach sand, eyes that shone with the radiance of fireflies.

"Who are you?" Percy asked, his hands going for his sword, but his pocket was empty.

"I am Gaia, Perseus Jackson. Now before you say anything, I think you misunderstand." She held up her hand to quieten Percy, but he felt like it did more than that. Her hand seemed to emit a force that compressed Percy. He couldn't move or do anything. A gravitational field.

"Alright," he replied, slightly startled that he could speak, but relieved nonetheless, "tell me what's going on and why I'm not dead if you were Gaia."

"I have two consciousnesses. The one that stands before you is the true Mother Earth, the other one is the vengeful. I assure you, we are the same, but different in mind."

"How can you have two sides to you?"

"Hasn't it happened before?"

That struck a blow with Percy. Immediately, he remembered Aelia Hawthorn, and who she really was, and he knew Gaia did too.

"Ok, fine. What are you doing here?"

"I've come to end this. The war. Everything."

"How do I know you're not just pretending to be nice and there's actually just one really pissed off Gaia?"

"Because I'm going to tell what will happen in the next twenty four hours, every detail, every action, so that you can finish this and save me."

Percy was silent. "Save you?"

"Yes. This war has taken a toil on my form. Disasters. Bloodshed. None of which are good." As she said this, Percy could make out some cracks of dry skin on her cheeks.

"The other Gaia, she doesn't care. She's delusional that a new world can be built over the old, that she can endure the transformation. It will only kill her, and me."

Percy looked at her in the eye, and found that all of it was true. She was tired, even for a primordial goddess. She didn't want a war.

"What do I do?"

"Keep going forward. You'll reach the Doors soon. When you get there, your last enemy awaits. Defeat him to unlock the Doors and go through to return to the mortal world. When you're there, I can bring you back to your camp. Assemble the Olympians and the demigods. By then, it will be the solstice. The final war will begin at sunset."

"Where?"

"At your camp."

His breath caught. Another attack on camp. He steadied his breathing, and said, "Anything else?"

"Yes, and this is probably the most important part. You've wondered where the Ares demigods have went, have you not?"

After he nodded, she continued. "They've been captured, held in a place of the coast of Spain. Do not," she held up her hand once again, "try to rescue them. They will die as sacrifices to fully awaken Gaia."

Percy's hands trembled. He clenched them in an attempt to stop the shaking, to no avail.

Gaia. She said it as though it was another person she was talking about, not herself. Like she wasn't the reason he'd been through hell, both literally and metaphorically.

"I...understand." He felt disgusted with himself, but he wasn't sure why.

"Do not blame yourself for not being able to save them, Perseus." She said. Was that a genuine tone of comfort? If gods couldn't empathise with mortals, why would a primordial be able to do the same?

"As I was saying, when you unlock the Doors, that starts the timer. Gaia will begin the sacrifices. The Giants and their armies will be teleported to Long Island, but so will you. There will be no time to plan anything. Ready your weapons."

"Will we win?" Percy asked.

There was a long pause. Gaia looked at Perseus, expecting something of determination to be written on the young demigod's face. Her eyes widened by just a fraction, perhaps unnoticeable.

His expression was solemn. Accepting of a possible demise. Understanding that there was a chance, whether high or low, that the Giants would win. That for once, he would lose, and die, alongside the world and his friends and family. Whether it was a dark form of justice he pursued against herself for being what she was, that the Fates themselves granted the death of her form and all of humanity, or that he truly believed that all hope was lost.

She looked deeper, behind those cold emerald eyes. This time she couldn't hold back a gasp.

"You don't believe in winning, do you?" She breathed, utterly astounded.

He shook his head, immediately understanding what she had seen. "Every war has a side that loses and a side that wins. This is no different from the Titan War. Both armies should have an equal chance of winning and losing. But not this one."

"I've seen the armies. I've seen the Giants and their power. It does not matter if it takes a god and a demigod to kill one. And this time, they learned. They won't take chances. They dare not tempt the Fates. They grasp at any opportunity to wipe a demigod out, you know this."

"So why do you fight?" Gaia said, but she knew the answer already.

"If I had no one left in this world, I would have given up a long time ago, thrown down my sword and left the world to rot. I don't fight for Olympus. I fight for the people I care about."

Gallant words, words that she was no stranger to hearing it from heroes throughout time, yet there held a certain genuinity she had never felt before.

"But you have people here you...love." Gaia hadn't use that word in millennia. "And yet the forces of evil seem stronger than ever."

"So I will try, and try again." Percy insisted. "I'll keep trying until I'm dead for the hundred time. I'll keep trying till I'm faded like the forgotten gods."

A silence settled over the conversation. "Whatever happens," he said, "whatever trials await in the final war, it will happen, so let it, but if I can give that tiny shove in the favour of my side, I will do that even at the cost of my life."

Gaia nodded. "Then awake, son of Poseidon."

* * *

The pain was gone. Percy blinked a few times and sat up. Nico was already on his feet.

"You good?" He asked Percy.

He chuckled. "Yeah, that was easier than the rest."

"If it weren't for the flaming horses that almost burned us alive five minutes ago, I would almost believe you."

Percy got to his feet, and the two started walking, their journey almost complete.

* * *

There was a clanging sound. Annabeth's eyes snapped open. Like a captured wolf, she backed away from the iron bars, upright the instant her ears pricked. Hestia was already pressed up against the cold, filthy granite.

At first she thought it was someone coming in to bring food, at least she hoped. She'd seen some movies back when she was still a kid, mostly crime and mystery. She'd asked her dad why the captors would bother to feed their captives if they hated them so much.

"To keep them alive for other purposes." He'd said, never one to shy from the truth to his little girl. Annabeth had a sickening feeling that she was in that very same situation.

But no, it wasn't a guard carrying a plate of chow. It was Clytius. His head was in their direction, so she assumed he was gazing at them. It was hard to discern his emotion with the lack of eyes or mouth.

Annabeth and Hestia remained quiet, all sparks of hope and defiance diminishing. Their eyes were dry, no more tears to shed.

Clytius tilted his head to the left in apparent curiosity, as though questioning the lack of insults towards the Giant. He could have been laughing; she didn't know.

"Come. It is time." He raised his hand and shadows engulfed the prison doors. The iron crumbled under it, reduced to dust. Then he disappeared.

He almost sounded sympathetic.


	24. End Approaching II

"I watched you enter here." Styx said, her tone laced with sympathy. "Quite touching, what you did for the demigod."

"Which one?"

"Poseidon's spawn. The dead one."

"Ah, Perseus."

"Why, though?" She turned around and looked straight at Hades. "Sentencing yourself here for eternity, all to keep one demigod soul from oblivion? I never knew you were so...sacrificing."

"It's worth it." He replied quietly.

Styx eyed the ethereal shackles that bound Hades to the ground. "Sure. _Worth it_."

"He is Olympus' only hope. He always has been."

"Oh please." Styx snorted. "Perseus was never special. Just because he denied godhood, bathed in me and did so much for the gods doesn't make him your only hope."

"How many of his kind have you met? Heroes that have accomplished as much as he did?"

"None," Styx admitted, "yet I cannot count how many spirits there are in the universe that have nobler intentions than Perseus. Millions of souls that deserved Elysium, or the Isles, but never went there, because they weren't flashy enough. They never did huge things like save Olympus, but often times it is the smaller deeds that are the biggest in heart. Instead they were sentenced to Asphodel, where they blend in with creatures fouler than them."

"You're criticising my system of judgement?"

"Partly, but that is not my point. You all worship this demigod for the things he has done, selected him as the savior of Olympus, and cast away the rest. In doing so all your minds are plagued by this ideal. Now that he is dead-"

"He'll be alive soon enough." Hades interjected.

Styx's lip curled. "Perhaps, but for now the morale is at its lowest. Your finest warrior dead, so everyone is afraid of the Giants, when they have no reason to be. How...pitiful."

"Just what are you saying?"

She didn't answer, staring into the abyss below. After moments, she answered.

"I'm curious to see how this ends." her voice was soft. "I am on no one's side, so I cannot help you, but since I answer only to the Fates, I believe what comes next lies on your part."

Hades' head perked up. "What are you…"

"Go, tell the Olympians to prepare for war. Perseus and your son should be opening the Doors right about…"

There was a thunderous rumble, followed by a piercing cry, as though a thousand spirits had found redemption.

"Now."

The chains disappeared. Styx locked eyes with the god of the underworld before he shadow-travelled away.

* * *

The final boss was apparently not very final. The two of them stabbed him before he could greet them, and he collapsed with a wail before dissolving into dust. They didn't even get his name. It was easy.

_Too easy,_ a part of Nico thought, but he shook it away.

Before them stood the Doors: two obsidian pillars connected by a crescent arch with greek symbols carved on the top. Between them was a black light substance that flowed with chaos. Some of the stuff rippled at random parts, while others dropped downwards and moved upwards. It was disorienting.

There was no lock. Nico found it strange. Hades had said it would be locked, and he had the key, the latter of which he still did not know.

Glancing at Percy, Nico could tell he was thinking the same.

"So...do we just walk into it?" Percy asked.

"I'm not sure." He eyed the liquid cautiously.

_You have the key._

Suddenly, it hit him. Nico wasn't sure whether he should have felt injustice or joy for the realization. Either way, he backed away from the Doors unconsciously.

"Nico? You okay?" He faintly registered Percy's concerns. It was soft and faded, as though it was coming from the other end of a long tunnel.

"Yeah, yeah, it's that…" he drew a breath. "I know what the key is. Just stay quiet."

Percy zipped it. Nico took one step forward and raised his hands in what would look like a sort of prayer or incantation to Percy, but Nico knew it was supplication.

_I've come to terms with her death,_ he told the Doors silently. _I know I cannot bring her back, even though that was what I had been planning all along._

He could hear it mocking him, in laughter, like they found his plan silly and childish. He felt a spark of rage, but doused it quickly.

_I accept that Bianca di Angelo is dead, and will stay dead, until she chooses to rebirth into a new life, or if not, for eternity._

His voice cracked. How could a voice in his head crack from grief? Somehow it did. He steadied his breath.

_Open._

Nothing. The Doors stayed closed.

Another incense of anger. _No,_ he extinguished it, the Doors wanted him to get mad. By doing so, they would never open.

_Grudges are dangerous,_ Bianca had told him, _especially for we children of Hades._

He could sense a last request from the Doors. It was barely understandable, whispers that came to him, but he knew what it was.

He hadn't noticed his arms had dropped until he realised the ache from holding them up for so long had subsided. He wiped away the tears he didn't know he was shedding, and raised them up again, for the last words that would complete the key.

With a last prayer to Bianca, he spoke the oath he never dared to say for the past four years ever since Bianca's death. One that had played over and over again in his mind, but always pushed it away.

_I swear, by the River Styx, never will I attempt to bring Bianca back from the dead._

Was that a rumble of thunder from the overworld? Nico couldn't hear it, because the next thing he knew, the Doors lighted up a pure white, and there was a collective howl that came from beyond them, the souls discovering their darkened path that led back home.

As the two instinctively leapt into the portal, Nico heard a soft, joyous sigh, and he knew it was his sister finally able to find peace after her death.

So did Nico.

* * *

Percy felt something move inside him. It was slow at first, but increased in tempo. It took him a while before he realised it was his heart beating. He put a hand on it and felt it thump against his ribcage. He opened his mouth and drank in the oxygen that flowed to his functioning lungs, rubbed his hands to feel the nerves that ran through his skin. He was alive again, and it felt strange, like he shouldn't be.

The two was standing on a hill by the countryside for a moment before true to Gaia's word, he felt a rumble in the ground, and it opened up for the two to fall into a huge network of caves like some sort of ultimate slide made out of fresh dirt.

Needless to say, the two were screaming for the whole 2 minutes of riding. After which, they started to ascend and appeared on the beach, strangely clean in spite of the less than sanitary transportation courtesy of Gaia.

They broke into a run. Peleus bowed his head at the two passed him by on the crest of Half-blood Hill.

They heard noises at the amphitheatre. As they reached there, Percy said, "Oh."

Everyone was gathered there. Even the Olympians, who were crowded in the centre, discussing what Percy assumed were war plans. The demigods were sitting on the stone seats that circumvented the campfire.

Then he saw Poseidon's face perk up, turning his head to him and Nico. His face went slack, eyes seemingly popping out from its sockets.

"By Chaos," he breathed. Breathed wasn't the right word either, he seemed to have trouble doing it. "Perseus?"

It was as though Morpheus had cast another spell. All voices faded into silence, and they all turned to look at the newly revived hero of Olympus.

The unearthly silence withstood for another three seconds, before the exclamations sprung up, all shouting his name in disbelief.

"Percy?"

"It's Percy!"

"He's back!"

They were like trumpets which signalled the arrival of him. Though there was no red carpet nor flowers, the exhilaration was the same, perhaps better. Despite the imminent armageddon dawning upon them, his heart was racing with excitement. He couldn't help it, not that he was feeling like a hero, but the many demigods that were going crazy at seeing him back, it gave him a sense of heroism.

Him and Nico walked to the centre. Percy looked at Nico, expecting him to be give his trademark cold stare, but to his surprise, he was grinning, which triggered his own.

"Feels good to be back, huh?" Nico whispered.

"Yeah, yeah it does." He replied.

He hugged his dad tightly and looked at the surrounding demigods who were cheering. Then he remembered what was happening. Or going to happen.

Pulling away, he raised his hand for silence. They obliged, even the gods.

"As much as I'd love to celebrate, I'm afraid I come bearing bad news. Ready yourselves for battle. The last fight will be here, at camp." He said.

The elation died instantly, replaced by worried whispers which spread throughout the amphitheatre. He could hear the Olympians muttering behind him.

"There's no time for this! The Giants could strike any moment now!" He roared, and everyone fled to the armory. He turned around to see the head counsellors of each cabin looking at him expectantly. He recognised many of their faces: Malcolm, Connor, and others.

"It's good to see you guys, but there's more important things to be done. Zeus…" his voice faltered. He couldn't ask them for help. The god of the sky looked at him sympathetically, which was unlike the personality of the king of Olympus.

"I'm sorry, Perseus, but we cannot help, as much as we would want to." Zeus said, and the gods looked down at their feet.

"That's where you're wrong, brother." A new voice spoke.

All heads turned to face Hades, the god of the dead, dressed in full battle armour, his helm of darkness on his head and wielding a scepter.

"Father?" It was Nico's turn to be stupefied, but he didn't move. There seemed to be a mutual agreement between father and son that affection could wait.

"We all will fight this last battle, because the Ancient Laws are no longer binding us."

"Hades?" Athena said nervously. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that Lady Styx is no longer taking prisoners. She told me personally."

"Personally?" Hephaestus narrowed his eyes.

"There's no time to explain. Ready yourselves, brethren, because while we can wipe their army out with the full extent of our powers, they can do the same for our children."

"So both sides need to have some immortals to shield them magically, yet that will cause a stalemate. Neither side will unleash a wipeout as that would drain them completely. The shield is just a precaution." Athena realized. Hades nodded. Zeus took charge from there.

"Dionsyus. Apollo. Will you do it?" He looked at his two sons. They both nodded.

"Good. The rest of us...let us go. We have a war to fight."

A thunderous roar shook the ground, heralded by a war cry and drums.

"Which starts now." Percy was already out of the amphitheatre.


	25. The Last War

Percy had no idea how Gaia had managed to teleport her entire army from Hades-knows-where, assuming she had used the tunnel method, without causing a 9.0 earthquake. As he reached the summit of Half-blood Hill, overlooking the woods below where the sounds were coming from, his heart skipped a beat, and his eyes practically fell from his head.

He had seen the army before; the advance group sent here in the first battle, yet that was nothing compared to the mind-blowingly massive size of this one. Legions upon legions of all sorts of monsters, some of them clad to the bone in armour and weaponry, and others completely vulnerable. There were horrific mutations of demons, some that walked on two or more legs, some that soared above on leathery wings, wielding either their natural weapons or bony swords and shields. He recognised certain species of creatures from the Titan War, like empousai, dracaenae warriors or monstrous cyclops, yet they felt inferior compared to their demonic brethren. Aside from them, earthen golems the height of a double-deckered bus gazed up at him facelessly, humming as though they were in a mantra. Percy assumed they were minor creations of Gaia.

The Giants towered over them, blocking the light from the noon sun. Percy saw Orion grinning at him, his taut bow pointed directly at him in mockery. His chest winced slightly. Besides him, he saw a Giant with no mouth and empty eye sockets, two smaller Giants which looked identical, a Giant which carried a trident much like Poseidon's, but it was an unearthly green, and in the centre, much taller than his brethren, their king. Somehow, he remembered his name, maybe from the numerous facts Annabeth bombarded him with. Porphyrion, the king of the Giants and bane to Zeus. He only wielded a spear; not very flashy, but he looked incredibly more menacing than the others.

There were more of them, perhaps two to three, but Percy was already fearful enough to tear his eyes away from them, to his army.

Amazingly, or perhaps with help from Athena, the demigods were assembled in formation, each perfectly armoured, eyes cold with fear yet anger. The Olympians stood behind them, and Percy noticed Dionsyus and Apollo's eyes were closed, energy glowing between their palms. As the magic brightened, a barrier shielding them, just barely visible. The rest of the gods were also armoured and wielding their weapons.

Strangely, Zeus didn't stride forward to take charge, as Percy thought he would. At first he assumed it was fear, which Percy felt was plausible, but he couldn't help but think that something had happened in his absence which had humbled the Olympian.

Then again, Percy himself was amazed that he himself hadn't run off at the sight of so many Giants and monsters. Sure, fear struck him like Zeus' lightning bolts, but a small part of him was also - dare he say it - anxious to fight. Perhaps it was simply the disappointment from the last enemy he'd encountered despite being the last of the five, but he longed to be in a full-scale war which threatened the survival of Olympus and the mortal world. The adrenaline and the time that seemed to slow down when he was one hit away from death. It was...invigorating.

"This is your last chance to surrender to Gaia, demigods and Olympians." Porphyrion spoke, but his mouth was like a hundred speakers, so Percy and the rest of the army could hear him quite clearly. "You fight a losing battle. How will you defeat the earth?"

"How will you shut your mouth?' Percy yelled back. Porphyrion growled.

"So this is the famous Perseus Jackson, the one who has impeded Mother's plans so much. You do not look like much. I cannot see how you could have defeated Mimas."

"He was arrogant. So are you." Percy replied, knowing it was a lie as he recounted the painful experience in his mind.

"You mistake us for the Titans. We are their superiors in strength and intelligence."

"And I think you're the exception."

Snarling in annoyance, Porphyrion roared, "Enough talk. Let the fight begin."

The order was given. The two armies rushed towards each other, and Riptide was already drawn.

* * *

It started easily enough. Both armies clashed at the foot of the hill, and chaos descended upon the battleground. The hellhounds were the quickest - to die, that is. Percy sliced them in half easily as they pounced towards him. If they had served one purpose, it would be to remind him that he had his own hellhound. As he finished the last one, he gave his loudest whistle. Within moments, the shadows behind him rippled as Mrs O' Leary shadow-travelled into existence and began ripping up the enemy.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a battalion of Athena campers about to be overwhelmed by some Cyclops. He thrust his hand out and a geyser burst under the Cyclops' feet, launching them into the air and making them an easy target for Apollo campers. "Thanks Percy!" Malcolm said, but Percy was already fighting another group.

To make things even better, Percy hadn't noticed anything at first, but then as he sprinted past the corpses of some dracaenae, he saw silver arrows sprouting from them. He grinned, knowing the Hunters Of Artemis had arrived. He launched into a legion of those demons and spun Riptide in a deadly arc, cutting all of them down.

He repeated this, slashing and spinning, occasionally unleashing another waterspout to save some of his allies. He tore his eyes away from the fallen, not wanting the image of their ashen face to be seared into his mind.

Then he met his first real challenger. The Giant Encladeus marched towards him with a spear in hand. No words were exchanged before Encladeus pointed a finger at Percy, and the runes that floated around him launched themselves towards Percy. Percy yelled and a waterspout opened in front of him to counter it.

Capitalising on the momentary pseudo-smokescreen, he leapt through it, Riptide extended. Encladeus immediately held up his spear to parry it. Sparks flashed as the steel collided, sending Percy to the ground. He rolled to the side just as Encladeus stabbed his spear at where he had been.

He got to his feet, breathing hard. Encladeus wasted no time before he lunged forward to smash Percy with his knee, but Percy rolled under him and slashed the Giant's heel, earning a roar of pain. Encladeus fell down, and in the next instant, streaks of silver arrows appeared on Encladeus' head, and the Giant dissolved into dust.

Percy looked at the dust for a second before coming to his senses. Turning around, he went back into the fight.

* * *

_Anytime now, Dad,_ Nico gritted his teeth as he slashed apart a legion of ghouls, thinking about the words his father said to him.

" _I need to assemble the armies of Erebus." Hades had said. "Stay safe. I'll be back shortly._

Nico could sense the fight waning against him. He could see the fallen demigods, nothing in comparison to the monsters he himself had already slain, but still a good one-fifth of the camp. He unconsciously said a silent prayer for them, just as a horrifying feeling overcame him. He could sense death, he knew that, and there were souls leaving their bodies everywhere he looked, but it felt heavy. A god was going to die.

He scanned his surroundings. He would be able to feel it, the person. Turning a full three hundred and sixty, his heart dropped like a piece of obsidian as he locked on the direction of Half-blood hill, where there were only two gods unprotected, ironically protecting the demigods from any unleashed power from the Giants.

Without thinking, he had already shadow-travelled up the hill, before he threw up a barricade of black energy in front of Dionsyus and Apollo, something he'd never done before.

A black arrow embedded itself into the wall, bare inches from Apollo's face, whose eyes were as wide as plates. The black arrow dissolved the wall and itself. Nico could tell that arrow would have killed anyone, but at the cost of being the only one Orion could fire. He heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, cousin." Apollo grinned at Nico, but he could tell he was absolutely terrified.

Nico nodded his head bleakly, completely in shock of what had just happened. He slowly looked down at the battle raging below him. He could see small groups of demigods close together fighting off the monsters that swarmed towards them. The other Olympians were locked in a stalemated combat with the Giants, neither seemingly gaining the edge over the other. The Hunters were either in the fray with their silver knives or in the trees above sniping with their bow.

As for Percy, well, he had summoned a hurricane and was currently deep behind enemy lines, completely destroying any nearby enemies. Anything that got closed was either sliced and diced by his sword or slammed into dust by the hurricane.

"You can go now, Mr di Angelo. I think we'll be alright. Thank you for saving my brother here" Dionsyus murmured to him. Nico wordlessly shadow-travelled away, his muscles aching from using so much of his energy, but he held his sword tightly, ready for another round.

* * *

"Mother!" Aphrodite burst into the throne room where Gaia was seated calmly on the highest seat.

"We're losing! Encladeus and Polybetes are already dead, and the army is being slaughtered by Perseus!"

"It is no matter," she replied. "The siege on their camp was never going to work, not with Perseus and the Olympians. Let them gain their confidence. We will soon wipe it completely. Just inform Porphyrion not to die. He will be the one to claim Perseus' soul for the last time. In the meantime, are the two ready?"

"They're on their way here now for transportation." Aphrodite replied.

"Good. Send them there. I will go there myself now." Gaia's form then turned into stone and crumbled, seemingly disappearing at the same time.

Aphrodite turned to the entrance of the throne room where she heard shuffling. Expectantly, she saw Hestia and Annabeth Chase escorted by a guard into here, both of their expressions void. She couldn't help grinning at that. Nodding to the guard who promptly left, she then said, "If it's any comfort, you both will be meeting your loved one again. Enjoy the trip!"

With that, she snapped her fingers, and the two were teleported.

* * *

 


	26. Decisive

 

Percy was tired. His shirt was sheened with sweat, his muscles were aching. As he stopped to catch his breath, he saw a shadowy figure approach him. Arrows that flew at him went straight through. He looked around; the demigods were scattering, Apollo campers tending to the wounded. The Giant took no notice of them; his face fixated on Percy, who tried not to be intimidated by the Giant's more disturbing appearance. Percy drew Riptide.

"Greetings, Perseus Jackson. I suppose we haven't met in person before." The Giant intoned, his voice echoing in his head.

"Hi, I guess I can't kill you, so we're just going to enjoy this conversation." Percy said.

"Indeed. The Olympians won't help either, because they cannot kill me. As you can tell, I'm impervious to any physical substance. I am Clytius, Giant of shadow."

"I've noticed."

"Anyways, I would dare to venture a guess that by the end of this, you and I will begin our fight, and one of us will die. That is how it ends for you, no?"

"Yeah."

"Well, today will be different. I will not be killing you. When I am finished with you," he waved his hand, and the world around him began to lose colour, until it looked like one of those old movies, void of saturation. As he did so, the Olympians that were approaching faded away.

"You will kill yourself."

"Wow. I suppose I should keep this in case I cut myself." Percy capped Riptide. He wondered whether Clytius was amused by that. His surroundings were now void of any nearby people. Silence filled the cold, unfeeling air. His nerves seemed to be numbing themselves, senses leaving his body.

Clytius ignored it. "Even though I have never met you before, I've heard a lot about you."

"From the Giants? I figured."

"No, from a person, or people, who you hold very dearly to your heart."

Percy froze. He hadn't thought about her ever since...oh gods, how long has it been? He was so focused on opening the Doors, and preparing for war. It hadn't occurred to him she wasn't present back there.

"Not just Hestia, you know." Clytius said, like he was reading his mind. "The other demigod as well."

"You...you-" Percy whispered, rage boiling inside him. He wanted to lunge at him and stab him a thousand times. To Hades whether it would work or not. He wanted to bury him under two thousand gallons of water, for capturing Hestia and Annabeth.

"I won't lie to you. They do not look well." He waved his hand, and an image appeared. It was a cell, with rusty iron bars blockading off one side; the other three were granite. Trapped inside them were two figures laid on the ground, shivering. Their clothes were torn and hair was messy and split. Their faces were pale and deathly, cheeks stained with blood and tears. The image could have been in colour and Percy wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"Is..is that live?" He croaked.

Clytius laughed, a cold unforgiving laugh that rattled him even further. "No." And that was all he said.

"What do you want? To kill myself?" Percy struggled to find his voice, but suddenly speaking felt foreign and difficult to do. His tongue felt numb.

"No," Clytius repeated, "I come with a proposition."

He waved his arms again. The image was gone, which Percy could have lived with, but instead of disappearing forever, it was replaced with another. This time, Annabeth and Hestia were tied to a wooden pole, ten feet into the air, while the earth below them glowed, indicating the presence of Gaia. Their mouths were unmoving, probably bound shut by magic.

Percy wanted to sob, but his eyes were dry. He looked at Clytius.

"Can you please take that away?" He weakly gestured at the image with his left index. Clytius inclined his head curiously. Pretending not to hear, he repeated his words. "I come with a proposition."

"WHAT IS IT?" He roared, his sword clattering to the ground.

"Gaia will give you one of three choices. The first is to save the demigod Annabeth Chase. In doing so, you save the world, but doom Hestia and the Olympians. The second; save Hestia and the gods, but the demigods and mortals will perish when Gaia ascends."

Without giving time for him to say anything, he continued, "So tell me, Perseus Jackson, now that you stand before both options, which one do you choose?"

The world regained colour. He regained his senses. Figures appeared.

Clytius stood before him. Behind him, The incarnation of Gaia was smiling. Porphyrion hefted his spear, his eyes gleaming in triumph. To the side, all the Olympians were trapped by earthen tendrils, forced on their knees, powerless. But worst of all, the image from earlier was no image. Hestia and Annabeth were here, watching him.

* * *

Percy was silent. The whole world was silent. It seemed as if time stood still in this very moment, of the decision that would save or destroy the world.

"Well, Perseus?" Gaia asked innocently. "What is your answer?"

He recalled Athena's words spoken to him during the winter solstice some three years back, as the festivities were taking place.

_Your fatal flaw is personal loyalty Percy. You do not know when it is time to cut your losses. To save a friend you would sacrifice the world._

As he looked at Athena, her stormy grey eyes reflected his thoughts. She knew what he was thinking, and her eyes seemed to say, _I told you so. Make your choice._

Yet he could see a hint of resignation behind those steely cold irises, as though she was fearing the worst.

Moments of silence edged past, the tension drawn so taut he could have sliced it with Riptide. Percy was hoping for some miracle, some close-call, some help from above. But nobody came. He was truly alone in this decision, which would shape the world.

As much as he wanted to find some way out, part of his mind dismissed it as impossible. Perhaps it was Gaia or Clytius influencing him, but he was terrified that it was his own thoughts that he was ashamed of even creating in the first place.

He recounted his words with the other subconscious of Gaia, words he had said in a brazen moment of courage. Part of it was true: he fought for the people he cared about, but Olympus...did Olympus deserve destruction? The gods were never good rulers, but he still cared about the Olympians, some of them: his dad, Hades, Hermes; even Zeus and Ares, even if it was just a miniscule amount. He knew they were important to the Western Civilization's survival. And it deserved survival, not slavery or utter desecration by the hands of Gaia or the Giants. The mortals, whether they were as pathetic as Gabe Ugliano or perfect as his mom, all had a right to freedom, even if Percy never felt like he had it. All those years he had spent doing quests for the gods, had he ever had time where he wasn't fighting monsters and saving the world? Granted, he did partially enjoy it, but perhaps it was just attempts of finding solace when he was buried under all these burdens. It wasn't true.

And the demigods, they all deserved to live. He remembered the many faces of his past friends, those who've died and those still around. Grover, Nico, Silena, Michael Yew, Connor and Travis, Charles, even Clarisse. They all gave him memories engraved into his mind that he would cherish in his time at Camp. He couldn't imagine a world without Camp. Its strawberry fields, its woods, the long nights singing at the campfire and canoeing...

He began to consider the aftereffects of his choice. If he let the gods live, would they all be enslaved, as would the mortals? Gaia said her other half wanted to transform this earth, but that would kill everyone? Would it matter then, which side he picked, if both sides were annihilated one way or another?

Raising his head up, he met eyes with Annabeth, who even through her agony, met his own with a tearful sparkle. He remembered the fond memories they had: the kiss on Mount. St. Helens, their time spent alone during the Titan War, when they were thrown into the canoe lake. She seemed to be thinking about the same things. Funny how when the world is about to end, he only thought about these things. _I love you, seaweed brain,_ she seemed to say. Even after their ending of their relationship…

There was a sudden jolt, like a shock had passed through his body. Wait, when did they relationship end?

His eyes widened by just a fraction, barely unnoticeable through his messy hair that shielded his eyes. He slowly looked at Hestia. Was that a shadow of a smile?

He gazed upwards into the sky. It was setting. The summer solstice was coming to a close. The surge of power would soon cease, but he still had one more thing left to do, and it wasn't choosing which side to destroy.

"I choose to save the mortals." The words practically rolled out from his tongue. There was a collective gasp and laughter at the same time. The expressions of the gods conveyed either surprise or no emotion at all, as though they were expecting it. The demigods were equally shocked. Some screamed, "No!" but were shushed by the Giants.

A strange feeling enveloped Percy gently like a blanket, like a soothing river guiding him to the next move. It was like a premonition, it felt as if he knew what was going to happen next before it did. The words he spoke spoke themselves: it was what was meant to happen, and Percy had a good feeling on who was causing it.

Gaia started applauding. "Good choice. Now, Perseus, you will be the one to kill Hestia, your oh-so beloved one, and the one that loves you back."

"What?" Zeus shouted incredulously. Gaia ignored him, and with a wave of her hand, Hestia's bindings were unravelled, and she glided softly to the floor. Percy walked up to her, Riptide already drawn. The gods and demigods behind him were in chaos over this despite the situation. Even some of the Giants were bewildered.

"Yes, it is true. Hestia has broken her vow. Not that it matters. It would have if my plan had went perfectly, but alas, due to some unforeseen circumstances and the costly mistakes of my servants, this had to have happened." Gaia laughed, then she glanced down at Hestia, who was glaring at her, though her eyes were brimming with tears.

"You never wondered why I combined you and Aphrodite into one body? It was to spark passion between you two, which did happen. Olympus would have torn itself apart if you gods had discovered this forbidden relationship, and would have made disposing of you all much easier. But no matter. You are still dead, and I still win."

Percy took no notice of this. He didn't need to. He had known of Gaia's victory speech before she had said it. Her words faded away, until it was just him and Hestia. He knelt close until they were inches away from each other's faces.

"You know what is going to happen, don't you?" He said. Hestia nodded.

"And you're ready?" Another nod.

Percy closed his eyes. "I love you, Hestia."

And with that, he raised Riptide, and buried it into her heart.

* * *

There was no blood. No ichor. Instead, golden streams of light poured from the wound like drops of sunlight. They floated into the sky and glowed brightly like molten lava. Then it hissed, as flakes of red and gold - sparks, the same kind the hearth always had, peeled off from the light and gravitated towards Percy. Thousands upon thousands surrounded him. He could faintly hear Gaia's shriek of astonishment as the sparks implanted themselves onto his skin like a second layer of amber.

"KILL HIM!" Gaia screamed almost maniacally. The Giants rushed forward, weapons drawn, but an explosion of brilliant velvet red and sun yellow knocked them back. Percy's eyes were shut, his arms spread and legs together. Then he opened his mouth to receive Hestia's spirit, as it was decreed.

He landed on the ground as the shell of Hestia crumbled into dust. He was wearing a cloak of brown with a hood now, nothing special, nothing fancy or outspoken. Only that his eyes were ablaze.

"Impossible. What is this?" Gaia said, backing away slightly, but her arm was held up, and vines below it were crawling upwards as though it was attracted to her hand.

"Salvation." Percy and Hestia said in unison, echoing across the hill. It was the two of them speaking in Percy's body.

"Next time you start a war, don't let it be where the hearth is. Because home is always where you're strongest." They said. Percy raised his hands and Riptide appeared instantaneously in them. In the blink of an eye, he had teleported to Porphyrion in a flash of fire and cut him down. The Giant king could only stare in awe before his body was reduced to golden dust. Percy repeated this, killing off the remaining Giants, who all dissolved into nothingness, until it was Gaia left.

Percy said a word in ancient Greek and the bindings of all the gods and demigods were set ablaze, albeit not hurting anyone. They disintegrated into ashes.

"You cannot kill me!" Gaia insisted. "I am the earth, you may as well try slashing at the ground. What use will it do?"

"Nothing," Percy admitted, "but I think the other half of you will do a better job of being a peaceful primordial."

Then his form glowed brightly for an instant before the serene face of Hestia appeared. She dropped Riptide immediately which retracted into pen form.

"Go to sleep, Gaia. You are tired and troubled." She spoke softly. "I will never wish for violence where it is not required. Only through peace will you finally be content."

Gaia's expression softened. Then it toughened once more. "This is not the end!"

In the next instant, Percy had retaken the body. "Yes, it is." Riptide was already in his hand. In one fluid motion, Gaia's head was on the ground, before it crumbled into loam dirt.

Percy took a breath and turned around, where everyone was staring at him, their expressions completely incomprehensible. Some looked like they were having seizures.

"Well, I'm starving. Dinner anyone?' Percy asked.

 


	27. The Last Sacrifice

"What do you mean she escaped?" Percy looked up at Zeus from his burger.

"We don't know where she went. We still can't detect her presence even after Gaia's death. It's like she vanished." Zeus replied, mystified.

"Again? Hestia's getting PTSD right now. Ow!" Percy rubbed his temple.

"We can only hope that she'll be lying low for the next few centuries." Poseidon spoke up.

"We'll find her." Zeus growled. "She won't escape justice."

Percy took another bite and looked around. The campers had gone off to bed, except for the infirmary, which was alit with activity. The Olympians and him were meant to meet him Chiron and the Head Counselors in a while; for now, the mess hall was deserted.

Athena cleared her throat. "Perseus, are you going to separate from Hestia anytime soon?" Zeus averted his eyes from Percy at this, which did not go unnoticed. The topic of Hestia's relationship with Percy was still undiscussed, and Percy had a feeling it was going to be brought up sooner or later. It wasn't something that could simply be ignored.

Percy tapped the table thoughtfully. "We will, after the meeting."

No one said anything to that, and the group lapsed into uncomfortable silence - except for Percy/Hestia, who had gone back to munching contentedly on his burger.

After around five minutes, Percy heard the shuffling of footsteps and the clopping of hooves. He looked up to see the head counselors and Chiron arriving.

"The wounded?" Zeus said.

"All tended to, milord. Lady Artemis and Lord Apollo have sped up the process. The burials will be done tomorrow." he gave a meaningful nod to Hades who reciprocated it. Apparently, Hades had put the bodies into a temporary stasis, preventing decay, such that the rites could be done properly when the time came.

"Good. I believe we have much to do, and it should be done on Olympus." There was a mutter of assent, and the gods teleported everyone in the vicinity, disappearing into a flash of light.

They reappeared in the familial area of the throne room, the gods supersized and sat on their thrones. Meanwhile, Chiron and the demigods stood in the centre before the hearth. Percy felt a small, gentle tug to the fire, like someone was pulling him affectionately by the hem of his shirt.

"Clearing up the more pressing matter, Perseus, I think we need our 14th Olympian back." Poseidon spoke up for Zeus, who had a scrunched expression on his face. Percy nodded, stepping forward.

Silence filled the room as Percy raised his arms towards the fire. The pull grew stronger. He closed his eyes and thought, "Ready?"

 _Yes,_ was her reply.

He didn't feel anything, but when he opened his eyes, Hestia was standing in the flames, dressed in her usual clothing. Her tiara was on her head. She blinked a couple of times, adjusting to her body. Giving a last smile towards Percy who promptly returned it, she supersized herself and sat on her throne.

"Thank you," Zeus said gruffly, "Now, we have the matters of the aftermath of this."

He took a breath and was quiet for a short while, as though he were thinking of what to say. "Since Styx has no longer bound us, we can assist the camp in the reparations and other matters."

"Are you sure?" Poseidon cautioned. "That may have only been the case for the war."

"Hades?" the god of the Underworld shrugged. "I have not heard from her since she released me."

A silence settled over the council, till Chiron spoke the words the gods were too ashamed to say. "I think it's too risky. At any rate, the battle did not damage the buildings, so reparations are not that problematic."

Zeus gave a nod. Percy noted the relaxing of his shoulders, but did not say anything. "Now, onto the final matter...I can say that this betrayal of an Olympian, and the loss of another and his offspring has been a harrowing experience, yet we once again have survived and defeated a primordial enemy, because of the hero that stands before you."

He sighed exasperatedly. "Perseus, twice you have saved Olympus. Even in death, you've saved the Underworld, something which I am sure my brother appreciates." Hades curtly nodded at that.

"And so we will offer you the best gift of godhood once again. Will you accept it?"

"No."

Zeus rolled his eyes, pretty unlike a king. The other gods seemed to have an equal reaction. "As expected. Then, if that is the case, what will it be?"

Percy cast a furtive glance at the campers behind him. Zeus, of all people, seemed to pick up on his meaning. He waved a hand and they disappeared.

"Well?"

It seemed to be obvious enough. "If she accepts, would you release Hestia from her vow of chastity?"

Zeus' expression darkened. He could practically see a storm cloud hovering dangerously close to him. The other gods didn't know what to make of this. They seemed to still have problems even comprehending the idea. Dionsyus was looking between Percy and Hestia so many times he seemed to be even more drunk than usual.

"That...depends. Hestia, step forward." Hestia tipped her head forward and stepped off her throne, shrinking down to human size. She stood beside Percy, whose shoulders relaxed from the warm aura she was giving off.

"Do you - do you accept?" Zeus asked. Was that a tone of nervousness? He seemed to finally accept Hestia as his eldest sibling. Percy wasn't sure what to think of that. Zeus indeed had changed.

"Yes." Hestia answered confidently.

Before Zeus could respond, there was a flash of light, and the three Fates appeared in front of them. Everyone immediately recoiled, and Percy took a step back, reaching to Riptide in instinct. Hestia, on the contrary, did not move, her narrowed eyes focused on the three old ladies.

"Think of your choice carefully, Hestia." Clotho said, ignoring all formalities. "Do note you are the _goddess of chastity_. If you do so, you give up a crucial, substantial part of your identity, and possibly, part of your immortality."

Percy's eyes widened. He looked at Hestia, who showed no emotion at this, but he could see a ripple of doubt pass across her face, which was quickly masked.

"What do you mean?" Percy said, his voice dangerously calm, the way a pit viper hiding under desert sand was calm.

Lachesis turned her cold eyes towards his. "It means, Perseus Jackson, that should she be released from her vow, she may shorten her lifespan from infinite to finite. Of course, the two of you have already displayed...physical affection towards each other." The two blushed.

"But we will overlook that if Hestia is willing to embrace her former self again. If she does not, with a verbal agreement, the consequences will be dire." Atropos said.

Percy clenched his fist, rage coursing through his veins. He felt a burning desire to punch the three Fates. He didn't care whether they heard his thoughts or not. He then turned his head sideways to look at Hestia, whose eyes were wild. Her hands were trembling slightly.

His anger dissipated. He wanted to hold her hand, but felt that it would be inappropriate in the situation they were stuck in.

"You don't have to do it." He whispered.

Whether Hestia heard it or not, he didn't know. Her face was kept squarely facing the Fates.

The silence was long and oppressive. Percy stared at the ground, until Hestia said, 'I...I accept the consequences. I request you release me from my vow."

Percy looked up at the Fates, whose faces still betrayed no emotion. "Very well. If you would have it so." Clotho snapped her fingers.

 _So much for drama,_ Percy thought.

The three Fates disappeared in another flash of light, leaving a very shocked Olympian council, a demigod and a goddess who potentially was goddess no more.


	28. The End

Annabeth was about to leave for her cabin, too teary from watching the shrouds and rites carried out by Nico and Hades, when she heard a familiar voice. "Annabeth, wait."

She turned around to see Percy. "Hi." She said, suddenly feeling self-conscious of her crying and immediately wiping them away with her sleeves. He chewed his lip. "Um...can we talk?" He asked, gesturing towards the beach. She tensed up for a second. _Oh boy…_

"Sure." She followed him. They said nothing until they reached the waters. They sat on the boardwalk and gazed outwards on Long Island Sound. The pristine waters that glimmered in the night, the small boats that speckled the dark sea, and the warm breeze.

The silence, however, was the complete opposite.

"I - I'm not sure where to begin." Percy kept his eyes on the water. He put his hands on the wooden boards to steady his hands. Annabeth had an urge to put her hands on his, but she felt that would be too weird, considering the circumstances.

"I'm sorry for the ways things turned out," he muttered, "I don't know why they wanted it like this." Annabeth wanted to give a good kick to the Fates as well, and partially Percy too, but seeing his frustration so genuine...she couldn't bring herself to be mad at him.

_He left you,_ a part of her reasoned, _it's cheating, isn't it?_

Annabeth mentally cursed that voice. Maybe it was Aphrodite still working her magic from wherever she was, or those sappy romance movies she used to watch with her dad, but she couldn't argue with it. From a logical standpoint, it was considered as cheating, but this time, it was different.

Yet, that is what everyone says about their relationship. It's different, they tell themselves, my love to her is unique, so those books or movies are wrong. If everything was different from the norm, doesn't that become the norm?

Even so, ignoring this clear logic - something she struggled to do - she couldn't bring herself to hate him or Hestia. How could she? They both were so...adoring. She had gone through so much with the two of them. And she knew they both loved each other a lot.

_But where does that leave you?_

"Annabeth?" Percy's voice startled her from her reverie. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I guess." she murmured.

"Sorry, I knew this would be uncomfortable."

She drew a breath. "It's okay, you don't have to apologize. We made things clear the last time we met, right?"

Percy seemed to relax. "Yeah, yeah we did."

"And that…" She thought hard, "that was the future, wasn't it? It was when you and Hestia were literally together."

"Yeah, when Gaia told me everything."

"Right." Annabeth recalled the long storytelling session the counselors had with the Olympians.

Silence descended on them for a while before Annabeth shattered it before awkwardness had the chance to follow it.

"Anyways, I'm okay with you two. I...I was actually planning to attend the school year."

Percy's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah, I just got an acceptance letter into the architectural firm on the college in San Francisco, right after the war. Apparently it's been there for a while, when I-" her voice caught. "Wasn't around."

"That's great!" he said, smiling, then it morphed back into seriousness. "But, thank you, for taking care of Hestia, when I was-"

"Dead." She grinned.

"Yep." He replied, laughing. The tension was definitely clearing up, which was a relief to Annabeth.

"So...what will you two do?" She ventured a question.

He shrugged. "I want to find my mom as quick as possible. I haven't told her I'm alive again."

"She may actually get a heart attack."

"Yeah, I might try to stay out of trouble for the next decade. I'unno, maybe try again at Goode for the semester. As for Hestia," he hesitated slightly on the name, before rushing on, "the Fates said she may lose part of her immortality for going back on her vow."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Harsh."

"Yeah…but anyways, she's just going to do her goddess-y stuff." He threw his hands in the air.

"Aren't you going to like, take her out, or something? That is what couples do, right?"

"She's like, a goddess."

"Who has a lot of knowledge on demigod life, even prior to this whole fiasco. Just go somewhere to eat. It's the least I expect." She tried for a smile and a bossy tone, and got to her feet. Offering her hand to Percy, she pulled him up.

"I should be going to bed. You?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired as well. You're uh...gonna have to walk to your cabin." He pointed to the Poseidon cabin which was right next to them.

She stifled back her laughter. "Good night, Percy."

"Night, Annabeth."

* * *

The time was ungodly. The demigods had gone to bed, the Olympians were resting in their palaces, and the night was peaceful, filled with the rustle of the cooling wind and the chirping of crickets. The stars that flickered in the sky like tiny angels, transcendent to even look at.

Percy stirred from his sleep. He thought he heard a sound. Of course, why wouldn't he? He was right beside the beach. The swishing of the waves that washed ashore already added a pleasant rhythm to nature's symphony. Yet he heard something...unnatural, but completely natural. It was like a leaf that simply belonged to another forest, though still surrounded by his brethren.

He got up and walked outside. As he opened the door, he blinked a few times at the sudden light that blinded him momentarily. The light was both yellow and red, and swayed as though it were alive.

Then, as he drew closer, he smiled at the familiar figure that sat by the hearth. She seemed to notice his presence, turning around to see him. She smiled warmly right back.

It was as though the war had never happened, and the two were lost in time, sent back to where it was just the two of them sitting by the hearth, talking and chatting, sharing stories and secrets.

And now, after what felt like an eternity, they were right back to where they were. At home, by the hearth.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect a major overhaul of this using the same plot. Not in the near future, though. But it will come.


End file.
